Naruto, a Dinosaur is Not a Shinobi Animal
by Esellyn
Summary: Naruto wants a shinobi animal. Hiruzen figures the egg in the research department could use an owner. A very sharp-toothed reptile creature crawls out. Warning: Blood and eating things, Velociraptors are meat-eaters, so be warned.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N) Alright, so the thing is that I'm pretty sure this doesn't count as a crossover yet. At least, not much of one. As such, I will not have it marked as a crossover until it reaches the point of a proper crossover. Yes, the egg is from Jurassic Park, and the very fact I have to tell you that is kinda a sign this isn't really a crossover. So yeah. They will go see Jurassic Park though, so there's that. So, uh, y'know how in Jurassic Park people get eaten? That, uh, will probably occur here, I'll warn at the start of chapters if it happens, but yeah, just be warned that a velociraptor's eating habits aren't exactly...child friendly. Or weak stomach friendly… **

The first words out of tiny eight-year-old Naruto's mouth when he bounded into the Hokage's office to tell him about his day, were, "I want a ninja animal! It would be soo cool! I'm taking really good care of those plants you gave me, they're all still alive, and happy, and stuff, so can I? Can I?"

Hiruzen chuckled, quickly jotting down a note for the research division. A shinobi had found an egg of some sort, and he could trust his ANBU to request it. He'd just make extra sure Naruto could be trusted with it. "Animals require a lot of care, you know that, right? And ninja animals need a lot of training. It can be patience-testing."

Naruto nodded solemnly. "Like waiting for the fruit to turn ripe? Or pretty flowers to properly bloom?"

Hiruzen chuckled, walking beside Naruto as they walked to the child's apartment. "Sure, like that. But a bit more like waiting for it to ripen, then it goes green again, or the flower curls back up."

Naruto thought about that. "That is annoying, but waiting is important! The nice lady at the flower shop said flowers have to be just right if they wanna sell them!" Inoichi's wife, a nice lass, would talk about flowers with anyone, including the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, apparently. It was good, he knew Naruto gave the Yamanaka Flower Shop his flowers when they were blooming, as Inoichi had come in to make extra sure it was okay. They were chakra plants that Naruto was growing after all, better for shinobi to grow, less inclined to die when a shinobi went on a mission. They were hardy little plants and known for storing extra water in underground reservoirs, they could take in lots of water in a short amount of time, and the level of the reservoirs was signaled by the color of the leaves. In addition, they were chakra plants, so they used chakra instead of fertilizer, and thus were slightly cheaper to keep. Civilians couldn't really channel chakra, so they couldn't keep chakra plants.

Hiruzen smiled as they walked into Naruto's apartment and flower buds waiting for him.

"They aren't blooming yet, but they will be in another day or two!" Naruto said proudly, gently cradling one of the buds and channeling chakra into it.

They were hardy plants, that was true, but they only bloomed with proper care. To have this many blooms, it signaled the plants trusted him to take their flowers. They were a breed of plant made by Hashirama Senju, and a good section of people thought they were just slightly sentient. If only because they were prone to producing more flowers when being taken care of by people they liked. The flowers could reabsorb blooms in just under three days and were prone to showing their dislike of certain people. Hiruzen personally knew that chakra plants had liked Minato, but weren't too fond of most Uchiha. Obito had been a happy counter to that one, as had Shisui, who grew them and ended up with this many blooms.

"You've done well," Hiruzen praised, gently touching one of the buds. "What color are the blooms?"

Naruto screwed up his face, then grinned and ran off into the room that was his bedroom. He came back out a minute later with a book. He opened it, flipping a couple of pages before settling on one, and handing it to Hiruzen. "See, Jiji?! The nice lady at the flower shop showed me how to press flowers!"

Hiruzen stared down at the vivid red flower, shot through with bright white and a touch of blue at the center. A not commonly known chakra tester was chakra plants, as they took a long time to bloom, but they were fairly accurate. The red was the Kyuubi's chakra, of course, with a fire affinity. Naruto's chakra, the white and touch of blue signaled his primarily wind affinity and minor water affinity. "They're very beautiful, Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "Some are just red, and some are just white, but most of them look like that!"

Hiruzen nodded. An ANBU signaled to him that the egg had been placed in his office, and he smiled. "One of my shinobi found an odd egg if you'd like to try hatching it-" he didn't get any further as Naruto latched onto him in a hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" He said, detaching and bouncing slightly.

"If you can take good care of it, we'll see about getting you a nice cat or dog so you can have a proper ninja animal."

Naruto nodded quickly. "Okay! But I can keep the thingy in the egg too?"

"Of course," he reassured Naruto.

Naruto beamed at him, and Hiruzen decided this was certainly the right choice. He could always switch Hatake from jounin sensei to watch him and the egg, whatever it was, for a bit, not like he passed any teams anyway. "Come, let's go to my office, it's there, and then we can get the right stuff for it, alright?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, and he and Hiruzen walked back to Hokage Tower.

The egg hatched three weeks later, beginning to hatch just as Naruto was heading out for the Academy. He debating whether to stay with the egg, but ultimately just grabbed it from the incubator and hurried to school with it cradled carefully in his hands.

The other students were very surprised to see him with the egg, especially when he pulled a towel out of his backpack and settled the egg on it. He then settled down in the seat, and rested his chin on his hands, staring at the egg.

"What's that, dobe?" Sasuke asked, vocalizing the question the entire class had. Iruka had been warned that at some point Naruto would bring a small creature to class, but he hadn't thought it would be hatching in his class.

"Oh, I don't know," Naruto replied distractedly, gently picking the egg up and rotating it in his hands to find the place where the creature was going to come out. "We'll see when it finishes hatching."

He got a lot of strange looks for that one, and Sasuke actually sat down next to him, curious beyond measure. Shino, quiet, but didn't glare at him, sat on his other side, watching the egg curiously.

Naruto tried paying attention to Iruka he really did, but the man had quickly realized that the entire class would be distracted to no end by the egg, and just taught a lesson they'd already had. He knew when he wasn't going to get anything from the kids.

The first cracks appeared in the egg about 20 minutes into class, and eager children crowded around Naruto and the egg. Iruka gave up teaching and used his superior height to see over the children.

A piece chipped away and a bloody red eye stared at Naruto. He stared right back, clear blue eyes staring into the red. The eye blinked, and the tiny creature resumed its struggling.

The rest of the egg fell away, revealing a small creature, about the size of a chicken, for now, standing bent over with a tail swinging behind it, and smaller arm-like appendages with a nice set of claws. The feet had large claws as well, and its tiny mouth was full of very sharp teeth.

Naruto pulled a container out of his bag, opened it, and offered it to the creature. It examined the contents, half of it was assorted greens, the other half was a variety of raw and cooked meat. The creature went straight for the raw meat, wolfing it down with a happy chirp. With a good half of the meat gone, it chirped at Naruto rubbing its head against his fingers.

The class blinked.

"So, what it is?" Sakura asked.

Iruka frowned. "I believe it's a creature called a velociraptor. They supposedly went extinct millions of years ago though. We've found a few bones, but the Shinobi Nations are rather oblivious to them. We only know what a few are called because of missions that went outside of the Shinobi Nations."

Naruto put the container aside and started petting the tiny velociraptor. "Are they intelligent?"

Iruka shrugged. "I just remember what it's called, you'd have to ask for a book on dinosaurs. We only have a couple."

Naruto nodded, tapping the tiny velociraptor on the nose. It sneezed adorably.

"Y'know, if I hadn't just seen it wolf down raw meat, I would be cooing at it," Ino decided. "The eating raw meat wins over the adorableness of what just happened."

Shino watched the creature curiously. Feeling his gaze on it, it turned to him and chirped. Shino tilted his head slightly, and the creature tilted its head too. "Do you eat bugs?" He asked it.

The velociraptor seemed a bit confused, so Shino allowed one of his kikaichu bugs to climb onto his finger, and showed it to the creature. It looked at the bug with such revulsion and shook its head. Shino took that as a no and allowed the bug to crawl back into his sleeve.

Naruto rubbed its little head. "Those bugs are off-limits, they belong to people." The velociraptor chirped and trotted over to rub against Shino's jacket. "Uh, how do you sex a reptile?"

"You put them in with another reptile, I'm pretty sure they do all the work," Sasuke deadpanned.

"No, sexing something means finding out the gender, or sex, of the animal," Iruka explained. "Perhaps ask Hokage-sama."

Naruto nodded, giggling a bit as the velociraptor thoroughly rubbed its head all over what parts of Shino's jacket it could reach. "I think it likes you."

Shino stared at the creature. "I believe you are correct."

"Taron."

"Huh?" The class asked as one.

"Taron, it's a name. Or maybe Taroko if its a female."

"Alright, now that it's hatched…" Iruka trailed off as the velociraptor appeared to finish with Shino, hopped up onto Naruto's head, and jumped onto Sasuke's, sitting down on his head.

"Really? You like the teme?" Naruto asked incredulously. It chirped at him, getting more comfortable on Sasuke's head. Naruto gave it a very unimpressed look.

**(A/N) Like it!? A couple of people were curious about it. Dinosaurs are very cool.**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N) HII! Alright, so an edit has been made. I have attempted, and I have no skill with Jurassic Park itself. As such, Taroko's egg is now part of a payment for a team of Shinobi having gone to help with the Jurassic Park situation. While they were there, they treated the dinos more like ninken or summoning animals, and the scientists there were extremely curious about the limits of the intelligence of raptors. So, Taroko's egg was sent with them, and the research division sends reports on Taroko's intelligence levels. More dinos will follow. **

When the egg hatched, Hiruzen had not been actually expecting a dinosaur, long thought to be myths, and were definitely extinct. He debated calling Anko in, to see if she could sex the animal, but decided against it. That would probably be a bad idea, considering the amount of teeth the creature had. Not a problem of worrying about Anko, more worrying that Anko would take a shine to the small creature and hence, to Naruto. As much as he trusted the special Jounin, she was a bit… eccentric. He checked himself and tentatively suggested it may be female, but they should probably ask a vet before he took that as ironclad fact.

As such, they were on their way to visit the Inuzukas. Hana Inuzuka, specifically. She was young but showing a good head for veterinary medicine. Also, she was most likely not going to deny Naruto and his velociraptor a checkup. In addition, she was an Inuzuka, and not even remotely afraid of things with sharp teeth. She also probably had some more meat for the velociraptor, who was hungry again and had already eaten what Naruto had. On the plus side, they knew what it ate now.

Hana checked it over and agreed that it was probably female, so the velociraptor was officially named Taroko.

Naruto continued bringing Taroko to school with him, she was happy enough to sit quietly, for the most part anyway, and had mostly figured out that lunchtime meant she could pester Naruto for food all she wanted. Iruka was deemed okay, but Taroko didn't seem to like it when he threw chalk at Naruto for sleeping, so a few days into him bringing her, she started nipping his ears whenever he was close to dozing off. Iruka was fine with this arrangement and even started keeping mice from whenever they appeared in the school, which was often, in his desk to give to her when she'd done a good job keeping Naruto awake. She was certainly more intelligent than most other animals, and about a month after she hatched, Iruka brought up the subject of communicating with her.

"Naruto." Iruka stopped him after class while feeding one of the mice to Taroko.

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei?"

"Have you ever thought about teaching Taroko morse code?"

Naruto looked confused. "Morse code?"

"It's a sound and occasionally touch-based communication method," Iruka slipped into his lecture mode immediately. "It relies on a series of dots and dashes, or long and short. Morse code can be used over radio, by tapping on someone, and even flashing with a jutsu."

"So, the point is," Naruto said, leaving it hanging.

"She could tap her claw to speak in it, and you could reply by clicking your tongue, or maybe even replying verbally if she can understand Japanese."

Taroko, at that moment, decided to chitter and nod her head. Iruka smiled and patted her head. "I think she agrees with me."

"Maybe, I'll take a look at it," Naruto agreed.

And take a look at it he did. He had to learn it first, then as he learned, he taught it to Taroko. It was an interesting way to learn, and he found he remembered it better when he taught it to her, and then they used it. He'd started with mostly simple commands, doing bite, don't bite, and disappear. The last one was used mainly when civilian mobs found him. She wasn't big enough yet, only about the size of a small ninken, and he feared they would attack her, maybe even kill her.

Iruka used it to get her to nip Shikamaru whenever he was sleeping too, and Naruto started wondering if she liked his teacher more than she liked him. Shino had picked up on the morse code thing and had started learning it as well, attempting to have conversations with the small reptile. She was learning new words daily from him and then would teach them to Naruto. It was with some difficulty they figured out how to do the information transfer, but they found that she could dip her claws in ink and draw like that. So, Shino and Naruto started teaching her to write and read.

With some strong encouragement from Taroko, Iruka started giving her assignments too, letting her complete them in her only slightly better than chicken scratch hand, er, claw writing.

Taroko made her opinion on certain people very clear. She did insist that she liked the Uchiha, mostly because he 'smelled of blood' or something like that, she wasn't very clear. She didn't like the fangirls of the class, usually growling at them, especially when she'd caught something on her own for lunch, and her fangs were all very bloody. They were usually screaming and running away at that, despite the fact that she only came up to about their knees by the end of the fourth year, and was not big enough to eat them. Yet.

She liked Shino, Shikamaru was a toss-up, they weren't sure if she just liked biting him and getting the treats from Iruka, or she actually cared that he was paying attention. She hadn't said anything on the subject, so they were mostly left in the dark.

She definitely liked Choji, who was fine with bringing some meat leftovers from whatever food he'd eaten recently, and giving them to her. So far, she was especially fond of the turkey Choji's mother made.

Teuchi and Ayame were deemed okay, after they got over the teeth, anyway. They happily fed Taroko all the extra scraps that would've gone into the trash whenever Naruto brought her along. Which was most of the time. They were remarkably well adjusted to shinobi life, despite being civilians. It was probably the fact that their stand had been a place of fond memories for many shinobi, including the Yellow Flash and his wife, plus his students. The two had proven time and again that they kept their mouths shut, vital for people who ran establishments that shinobi frequented.

Taroko seemed to like Hinata, if just because she wasn't a squealing fangirl. Akamaru was terrified of the larger velociraptor, and Kiba remained wary, keeping his distance. Mizuki was not on her good side, she'd mentioned something about not liking snakes, and him smelling bad. Mizuki was confused by that, so everyone just brushed it off.

By the end of the fifth year Sakura was so firmly on Taroko's bad side, Naruto didn't think Sakura'd ever switch sides. Ino was edging towards neutral, and Tarako was roughly up to Naruto's ribs. At her shoulders, anyway.

Sixth year was certainly the most interesting since she'd hatched since they discovered she could use chakra.

Taroko watched them attempting the leaf sticking exercise curiously, and tapped out a question. 'Chakra, can I use?'

Naruto blinked. "Uh, I'll ask. Hey, Iruka-sensei!"

"What is it Naruto," Iruka asked, coming over.

"Can animals use chakra?"

"Taroko asked?" Iruka asked, amused.

"Yeah, so can she?"

Iruka thought about it. "Well, I don't see why not, but I just don't know. Why don't you try, Taroko?"

Taroko tilted her head, crouching down to place her head on the leaves carpeting where they were working. There was a reason they taught this exercise in the fall. She stood back up, and most of the leaves, except for one, fluttered to the ground.

"Did you get it stuck?" Iruka asked.

Taroko tapped out a response, 'Leaf stuck with chakra. Manipulation easy.'

Iruka blinked. "Okay, may I place leaves on other parts of your body to see if you can hold them there?"

Taroko nodded, the leaf under her chin not moving, signaling it was certainly stuck firmly with chakra. Iruka took care, placing leaves on her sides, and a few on her tail, which swished a few times after they were placed, making sure they were firmly stuck.

The other students gaped at the dinosaur that was doing better then they were. Admittedly, it was less surprise and more, 'aw c'mon, we thought the dinosaur couldn't do this'. Iruka had informed the class, in an attempt to get them to work harder, that if she was an actual student, Taroko would be top of the class. Even above Sasuke, who was top human student. It had sort of worked, in that, a lot of the students tried harder, especially Sakura, who was livid that she was being beaten in her academic scores by a freaking dinosaur. She was still being beaten. Iruka had decided to set up three scoreboards, one that had academic scores, one with physical scores, and the third with overall scores. Taroko was topping all three consistently, although the scores with individual things that lay to the side admitted that Naruto had better stamina than her, really, it was not by a lot. She wasn't beating Sasuke at kunai and shuriken throwing, mostly because she couldn't actually throw anything, but she had the claws to make up for it in taijutsu. As she was a dinosaur, taijutsu styles didn't really work with her, so she made do. She still beat everyone in the class in spars. Sharp nippy teeth and a penchant for thick skin meant she could make almost anyone forfeit. Not to mention her tail, which had thrown most of them out of the ring at some point. There was something disconcerting about being able to see four limbs, then a fifth comes out of nowhere and hits you in the side, and throws you a good five meters if she's being gentle.

Sasuke actually growled at Taroko, and she happily growled back. Sasuke stuck the leaf on his forehead again, growling at it when it flew off because he'd applied too much chakra.

Taroko helpfully tapped out the problem. 'When angry, chakra is unstable, calm.'

Sasuke looked to Iruka for a translation.

"She suggested you calm down because when you're angry, your chakra is unstable."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, and she looked innocently back. Well, as innocent as a raptor can look.

They had a Hyuuga take a look at her, and sure enough, she had fully formed chakra coils, almost like a summoning creature. As such, Taroko insisted upon asking about things being thrown with chakra, which led to an entire discussion on medical ninjutsu, the control needed for that, and chakra strings, which could theoretically be used to throw kunai.

By the end of the sixth year, she was up to his shoulder, could now throw kunai, and was working on learning the henge. Privately, Iruka thought that anyone they came across was doomed. He was also debating taking up registering Taroko as an actual shinobi. After all, Taroko, Shino, and Naruto would make a wonderful tracking team. Unlikely to happen though, as Iruka knew that Naruto was perfect for a frontlines team, just a bit more so then a tracking team.

**(A/N) As awesome as that team would be, it can't happen. Oh well. Taroko has small chakra stores, and lots of control, hence her getting the leaf sticking exercise pretty much right away. She is not a summoning animal, nor will she ever be. Just to be clear. **


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N) Was not expecting this fic to be the one updated honestly. I thought it would be Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind. Not that I'm complaining, this fic is awesome, but still. I have no voice today, someone save me. Four hours of choir(straight) were not kind to my voice. Wasn't kind to anyone's… **

Graduation year was mostly review. They went over the henge, clone, and kawarmi, Taroko was having difficulty henging into a human form, then they tried Naruto's oiroke no jutsu, and it somehow worked, giving Taroko a basis for henge. She did it perfectly the next time in class, turning into a perfect replica of Shino. Iruka was so proud of his only non-human student. Briefly, he wondered if he could pass Taroko, and use that to pass Naruto. The Hokage had said that unfortunately Taroko could not be counted as anything more than a ninja animal. A pity, really, she was smarter than most of the class and could hold her own perfectly well against him and Mizuki, although that could be attributed to the fact that most taijutsu styles were designed to fight humans, not velociraptors.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka said. "If I may request."

"It involves Taroko?" The Hokage asked, hiding a smile.

Iruka chuckled. "Ah, yes. I was wondering if we could average Taroko and Naruto's results to give a final report. I still haven't found a fix to the clone problem, but Taroko can do it perfectly."

"Same as with everything else, as a couple of civilian parents have come to complain to me," the Hokage agreed, a slight smile at the reminder.

Iruka chucked. "Yes, she would be top of the class if she was an actual student."

"I will allow it, if just to ensure Naruto-kun passes, even with his… hated status because of the furball."

Iruka bowed his head. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Of course, Iruka-kun. If he didn't graduate, I would've had to figure out some other way to give this to him." The Hokage pulled out a picture, handing it to Iruka. "Another shinobi mission to the outside, but I do not believe this is the same kind of egg, as the shinobi of the research division reported that the egg was healthiest when in a fire."

"In a fire?" Iruka repeated. "Well, if this creature turns out to be as intelligent as Taroko, perhaps placing him with Kakashi is a good idea, give him the kick in the back end he needs."

The Hokage chuckled. "Perhaps, he is one of our most powerful, and perhaps close to the sanest elite jounin we have."

"Close to the sanest," Iruka agreed. "Although, Maito Gai isn't exactly the best comparison."

The Hokage chuckled. "I suppose not. Dismissed."

Iruka bowed his head and walked out.

When it became clear Taroko was large enough she couldn't just fit on the desk, Iruka had managed to con his students into a project that meant at least a quarter of them picked up a hobby of woodworking. The assignment? Make a desk for Taroko.

Teams had been chosen carefully, Sasuke immediately claiming Naruto and Shino, with Hinata claiming their fourth spot. The fangirls had to be at least slightly careful to have someone that Taroko didn't mind in their group if only so she wouldn't dismiss the desk out of the fact she just didn't like the creators.

Naruto's group won in the end, a lot in part to the fact that she liked all of the members of the group, and they had basically 24/7 access to her, while the others could only test their designs in class.

The result, something that had adjustable legs, to adapt for when she got bigger, it had hooks so it could attach to one of the desks that were already there so it could be used after Taroko was out of the academy. It was just high enough for her to write, and since it was separate, she could stand at it and not worry too much about hitting people with her tail. It also had the extra bonus, that as it was so far apart, she didn't need a privacy screen during the test.

Naruto did moderately okay, certainly not the best, but he did pass that segment. Taroko, as usual, had the highest grade possible. Sasuke and Sakura matched her, of course, but, well, it was a test, they could only do so much.

Taijutsu, Naruto was okay, once again, not the dead last he'd been before Taroko hatched, but not the top. Taroko had a bit harder of a time and went up against Mizuki, who was clearly going a bit too fast for a normal academy student, but as she lasted long enough, Iruka marked her down with top marks. At this point, she was on the roster.

Weapons, Naruto had certainly improved his aim and scored as one of the highest in the class. Taroko admitted that she was making him practice trying to hit her. Dulled kunai like the ones he would've been using bounced off her scales, so she was never harmed. After trying to hit her, stationary targets were a breeze. Taroko used her floating kunai trick and consistently landed in the center, earning her the top spot right next to Sasuke, who'd also hit all the centers, and Naruto, who'd done the same.

Base conditioning wasn't really a segment that counted in towards their scores, but they had it anyway. Taroko topped in speed, and Naruto again topped in stamina. Sasuke tied with Naruto for strength.

Jutsu was the final test. It had been a bit of a struggle for Taroko to be able to perform the jutsu, but she could now, and sealless, as her arms and hands were not conductive towards hand signs.

"Alright, Taroko, your turn," Sasuke said, plopping down in his seat with a headband tied around his head.

Taroko made the chirrupy noise they'd come to the conclusion meant 'alright', and walked out of the room. There were two other teachers, ones who didn't really know Taroko, aside from Iruka's highly amusing ranting about how a dinosaur was smarter then most, if not all of his class. They were rather surprised when Taroko opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind her. She then proceeded to make a clone, henge into a perfect copy of Naruto, and substitute with the conveniently placed log.

The teachers aside from Iruka and Mizuki blinked at her in surprise. Iruka offered her a headband and she took it gently in her mouth, trying to not dent the metal or slice through the fabric.

The class didn't look at all surprised when she waltzed back in with the headband held gently in her teeth. Naruto helpfully tied it around her neck. She nosed him, tapping that it was his turn.

Naruto came in, slightly nervously, but he could do it, he and Taroko had practiced a lot for this. He henged into a copy of Taroko, Iruka giving him a proud smile that he hadn't done the Oiroke no jutsu. He could do the substitution fine, swapping with the log, but his clone came out faded.

Iruka smiled at him, handing him a headband. "Congratulations, you pass. Even with your low clone score, your other scores, and the fact that Hokage-sama allowed me to average your lower scores with Taroko's, you passed, right about in the middle of the class. Congratulations, Naruto. I'll see you after school for ramen?"

Naruto shouted in joy, hugged Iruka, and ran out. Iruka took that as a yes, and got up to call the next student in.

The Hokage met them at Ichiraku's, and Naruto happily attacked him with a hug and started babbling about how he passed! Taroko tapped that she passed too, and Teuchi happily set her usual plate of meat scraps in front of her.

"First bowl on the house to celebrate your graduation!" Teuchi said, grinning as he handed a bowl of ramen to Naruto. Naruto grinned back at him, and Teuchi just smiled back and moved to make more ramen.

"Naruto, as you did so well hatching and raising Taroko, there's another egg, supposed to hatch tonight, that the research division has requested you look over. It's unlikely that the egg is the same species as Taroko, as it is healthiest in fire."

"So, it's fireproof?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage nodded. "Most likely."

Naruto swallowed the last of his bowl. "Do we have time for more ramen, or do we need to go now."

The Hokage smiled. "An ANBU will alert me when we need to go. We have some time."

Naruto cheered, and Iruka ordered his own bowl of ramen. If they had time, they were going to eat.

After another four bowls of ramen for Naruto, and Taroko having finished off all of the scraps Teuchi and Ayame didn't want, an ANBU lept down to tell the Hokage that it was time.

"Alright, Naruto-kun, let's go," the Hokage said, placing down money for his meal and half of Naruto's, Iruka filing in the other half.

The research division room with the egg in it was very hot, as there was a fire burning 24/7. They kept the windows open as much as they could, but then it was cold and hot, and the entire room was just a mess of temperature.

The egg had been removed from the fire and was sitting on a table, metal, but covered with a fire-resistant fabric.

Naruto and Taroko circled the egg curiously, and Naruto finally found the place that was cracking. The egg was jet black, run through with swirls of silver.

A piece cracked off, staring Naruto in the eye. Naruto and the creature blinked at each other for a bit, then the rest of the eggshell fell away, showing a creature that sort of resembled Taroko, but instead of smaller arms, it had feathered wings. A crest of feathers around its head rose as it shook itself, then started rubbing against Naruto's offered hand. It was jet black but had similar silver spirals as its egg. The feathers were striped silver at the tips.

Upon seeing the sharp teeth in the creature's mouth, "uh, I'm pretty sure this one's a meat eater too. Is there some meat nearby?"

A research division shinobi helpfully handed him some, and he gave it to the tiny creature.

"Iruka-sensei, you knew what Taroko was, so you know what this one is?" Naruto asked, glancing at his sensei.

Iruka tilted his head. "I was an avid reader as a kid, and the closest thing I can think of is a dragon. But I don't remember dragons having feathered wings."

The Hokage shook his head. "A dragon then." He gently picked the dragon up, quickly checking its gender. "I believe it's a female."

Naruto glanced around, spotting the fireplace. "Danromi!"

"Cute name," Iruka said approvingly.

Naruto beamed at him.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," the Hokage said, beginning to walk away. "I have a son and grandson waiting for me."

"See you, Jiji!" Naruto shouted after him, waving.

**(A/N) Danro means fireplace. -mi is a common ending for girl's names. So, Danromi. **


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N) Kakashi arrives on the scene!**

Iruka sighed, glancing at the clock. "You should get home, Naruto, it's getting kind of late. And we have team assignments tomorrow, you don't want to be late for that, do you?"

Naruto chuckled. "Kinda hard to be late when Taroko will drag me out of the door by my clothing, uncaring if I'm fully dressed or not."

Iruka chuckled. "Right, well, still. You need to sleep."

Naruto nodded. "Of course, Iruka-sensei. Come on, Danromi, Taroko, let's go home."

Danromi chirped, leaping onto him and sitting down on his head.

"I can introduce you to Teuchi and Ayame tomorrow," he told the small dragon. "They'll be a bit startled at first, but they'll manage!"

Danromi chirped, tiny claws digging into his hair.

Taroko chirped at Danromi, and the dragon chirped back, the two beginning what was probably a conversation.

"Are you going to teach her morse code?" Iruka asked, glancing at Danromi.

Naruto nodded, careful not to dislodge Danromi. "Might as well, not sure if she'll be able to write though."

"Well, unless you want her to complete paperwork with you, she won't need to. You aren't at the academy anymore."

Naruto hummed in agreement. "Right, well, it could be useful, you never know."

Iruka nodded in agreement. "See you tomorrow, Naruto."

"See you tomorrow, Iruka-sensei."

Danromi woke Naruto up that next morning by breathing fire two inches away from his face. It was certainly an… interesting awakening, and one that made Naruto decide that if Sasuke was on his team, Sasuke might just commandeer Danromi on the principle that she could already breathe fire, and she wasn't using a jutsu.

"Danromi, we can't breathe fire in the apartment," Naruto said exasperatedly. "You might burn the plants! Taroko, you can speak to her, can you translate that?"

Taroko nodded, chirping to Danromi for a couple of seconds. Danromi nodded, ducking her head. She flapped up to bump Naruto's cheek with her nose in apology.

Naruto caught her as she was falling down, and settled her on his shoulder. "It's alright, just don't do it next time, okay?"

Taroko translated that, and Danromi bumped his head with her own again.

Naruto padded into the kitchen, pulling out the leftovers from the last time the Nara let them go hunting. The Nara let them hunt the deer in their forest as long as they brought back some for the clan as well. Saved them the trouble of hunting down the deer themselves. And saved them buturing the meat, Taroko was quite good at it, when she put her mind to it. After she'd learned how.

He tossed full strips to Taroko, feeding smaller pieces to Danromi, and when they were fed, he moved onto his own breakfast, which was cereal, as usual.

Danromi got a lot of attention from his classmates, as she was a new creature. She, like Taroko, liked Sasuke and Shino, hated the fangirls, and didn't mind most other people. She really liked Hinata, however, and immediately settled into the girl's dark purple hair. Hinata turned very red and looked like she was going to faint when that resulted in Naruto sitting next to her.

"Alright," Iruka said as he came in. "Taroko?"

Taroko, who'd been just waiting for the signal, bit Shikamaru's shoulder gently, waking him up.

Iruka tossed a mouse her way, and she snapped it up. "Now, team assignments!"

Naruto waited patiently for his name to be called, absentmindedly fingering the headband on his forehead.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno. Taroko, Danromi, you're on the team with Naruto."

Naruto and Sasuke groaned while Sakura cheered that she had Sasuke on her team.

"Team 8: Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka."

Hinata blushed again, Shino adjusted his glasses, and Kiba didn't seem to care but was deep in quiet conversation with Akamaru.

"And finally, Team 10: Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka."

Ino groaned, and the two boys called just shrugged.

Three hours later, and Naruto, Taroko, and Danromi had relocated to the floor and were taking a nap in a neat little pile. Sasuke had just put his head down, and Sakura was chattering her head off to Sasuke.

Their teacher, a silver-haired jounin, came in and stared at the pile of two reptiles and a genin, then his other two genin, one looking to be asleep at the desk, and the other talking. "My first impression of you three, you're lazy."

Taroko raised her head and looked at him, then bared her teeth at him, and nudged Naruto, who woke up with a yawn, waking up Danromi in the process. "Oh, is our teacher finally here? Took him long enough."

Taroko tapped out a pattern. 'Hunt?'

"Tomorrow," Naruto agreed. "If he isn't here on time."

Kakashi gave no indication that he understood what Taroko had asked, and just continued. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes," before disappearing.

Taroko stood up, and Naruto went over to poke Sasuke awake. The three genin and two reptiles made their way up to the roof where their teacher was waiting.

"So, introduce yourselves," Kakashi suggested, eye smiling at them.

Taroko decided she'd go first. 'I am Taroko, I enjoy hunting. I like the mice Iruka-sensei kept in his desk, and raw meat in general. I hate vegetables and fangirls.'

"Naruto, I like hunting with Taroko, and taking care of my plants! I like ramen, and Taroko, and my new friend Danromi! I agree with Taroko and don't like vegetables or fangirls."

Sakura blushed when she realized it was her turn. Taroko rolled her eyes as Sakura stammered out something that was incoherent and probably about Sasuke. And that she disliked Naruto and Taroko. She got a nice view of Taroko's teeth for that one.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like fire, dislike fangirls, and enjoy training."

"Nice to meet you," Kakashi said, eye smiling at them.

"And you, sensei?" Naruto asked. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Kakashi thought about that. "Sure. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I like a lot of things-" Taroko interrupted him with tapping.

'He smells like eight different dogs, and eggplant and miso.'

Kakashi gave her a flat look and continued. "My dislikes are some things, and what I enjoy is none of your business," again he was interrupted by Taroko.

'I remember his smell, he's always at the memorial stone.'

Kakashi leveled Taroko with a long stare. The raptor smirked at him.

"Whatever the case, meet me at training ground 7 tomorrow at 5 for our first mission, a survival exercise. There is a 66% fail rate, and don't eat breakfast or you'll throw up!" With that, he disappeared in a shunshin.

Taroko snorted, shaking herself. 'Well, I'm eating breakfast. It's not like he can make me throw up anyway.'

Naruto hummed in agreement. "Yeah, maybe just a small snack for me, small enough I won't throw up, big enough I'm not going to die of starvation."

They wandered off, leaving Sakura and Sasuke there.

Sasuke debated between Sakura and Naruto, and chose walking off towards his compound.

They met up in the morning at the training ground. Sasuke had arrived first, plopping down with a bag in his lap. Naruto plopped down next to him, Taroko standing next to him. Danromi was draped around his neck and looked to be sleeping.

'Good morning,' Taroko tapped.

Sasuke nodded his head. "Good morning Taroko."

Naruto yawned, shifting so he was leaning against one of the bridge posts. "Morning Sasuke. Whatcha got there?"

Sasuke held the bag protectively. "Tomatoes, and you can't have any."

Naruto snorted, sliding to the ground. "I don't want 'em." In another second, he was asleep.

Sasuke snorted, settling down to meditate, Taroko settling down with her head in Naruto's lap. Sasuke was soon asleep though, not having gotten much sleep. Taroko also slept, but lightly, paying attention to her surroundings.

Sakura arrived quietly, also holding a bag. She noted the sleeping positions of her new team, and settled off to the side, snacking on the crackers in her bag, and reading a book.

**(A/N) Two fall asleep, one reads. Normal stuff! Taroko holds the snacks, she is all mighty. So, if they had goldfish, Sakura would've had goldfish. But there probably aren't any goldfish, so normal crackers will have to do. I have a poll up on my profile, go check that out and vote! **


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N) Bell Test! This is from mostly Taroko's head, so when her speaking has normal quotations, "" as opposed to '', It does mean she is speaking in raptor. It will only happen when addressing Danromi, who will reply in kind. **

Two hours later, Taroko left the rest of the team where they'd fallen asleep, and went to hunt down Kakashi. She tracked him to the memorial stone, standing at the entrance to the place and watching him. She knew he could sense her there, she hadn't exactly been sneaky as she approached.

"Taroko," Kakashi said finally, not bothering to look at her.

'Kakashi,' she tapped. 'Coming? I am not waiting another hour for you to show up.'

"And your teammates?" Kakashi asked, amusement coloring his tone.

'Are sleeping,' Taroko admitted. 'But the fact remains. You are already two hours late. I will come look for you earlier next time. If you want more time with your memorial stone, wake up earlier.'

"You'll have to find me, I am not so predictable," Kakashi warned.

'Whatever, just give us our test,' Taroko tapped, staring at him until he relented, and stood up, standing up and following her back to the training ground.

Naruto appeared to have woken up, and was currently poking Sasuke in hopes of waking him up.

Taroko chirped loudly in greeting, Sasuke and Naruto both jumping about a foot in the air. Sakura startled so badly she dropped her book.

"Good morning my cute little students!" Kakashi said, eye smiling at them. Taroko rolled her eyes and stood next to Naruto, tail swinging ever so slightly.

Naruto glared at Kakashi. "You're late."

'Would've been later,' Taroko replied, wrinkling her snout at Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't reply, just held up two bells, placing an alarm clock on the nearest stump. "Get one of these bells from me by the time this alarm clock goes off, and you will become a proper genin. Fail to get one, and you get sent back to the academy."

Taroko narrowed her eyes, already planning to smash the clock. It would give them more time, if nothing else.

"Ready?" Kakashi asked, attaching both bells to his waist. Taroko shifted so her tail was across Naruto's chest, holding him back from attacking Kakashi until it was time. Danromi abandoned Sasuke's duck hair, where she'd perched at some time earlier, and perched on Taroko's back instead, settling down and wriggling her wings under two of the straps on Taroko's harness. Conveniently, this also gave her perfect access to the pouch with the jerky in it.

"Begin!" Kakashi said, eye smiling like he expected someone to rush forward and attack him. Which no one did. Kakashi opened his eye to find that everyone had disappeared.

Taroko could easily find Sasuke and Sakura, not only by tracing their scents, but she could see them as well. They weren't the most well hidden. Sasuke was up in that tree over there, to Kakashi's left, and Sakura was on the ground over there in those bushes. By the glint in Kakashi's eye, she figured they'd been spotted.

She knew where Naruto was, couldn't really see him though. He wasn't trying to keep in the vision range of Kakashi, instead relying on his sharp senses of smell and hearing. Which was probably a good idea, keep Kakashi guessing.

She was, in fact, not hidden very well, but her natural camouflage did a lot, breaking up her shape and making her more difficult to find by shape recognition. Also, she was trying to keep an eye on the other two people on this team. Iruka had told them that genin teams were made up of four people, three genin, one jounin sensei.

Either Kakashi wanted them to work together to futilely try for the bells, or he actually wanted two of them to get the bells and the third to fail. If that was the option, he'd probably have to pick up a genin that had lost their team, or they'd wait a year for the graduating class and select one from there.

The second two were unlikely, given the amount of effort it would require. Kakashi didn't seem like the type that wanted to go to any extra effort. … Dang, she'd probably have to teach herself and Naruto, given Kakashi didn't seem like he'd teach them at all.

Maybe they could trade him in for another teacher later. One that would actually teach them. But that would have to wait for later. For now, she had to actually collect everyone else and explain. Either they'd believe her, or they wouldn't.

"Danromi, he doesn't seem the type to go through extra work, right?" Taroko barked quietly to her companion.

"Not really," Danromi replied. "Seems pretty lazy to me."

Taroko nodded to herself. Second opinion gotten, even if from a day old hatchling, now time to find, well, get to the others. She knew where they were, it was the getting to them that was the problem.

And Kakashi was off, heading towards Sakura, it looked like.

With Kakashi gone from the clearing, Taroko raced out from cover, crossing the field in a matter of seconds, and plunging back into the undergrowth. She would explain to Sakura after her backend was thoroughly kicked by Kakashi.

Taroko paused when she came across an unconscious Sakura. A sniff of the air later, and nope, she wasn't bleeding, so why was she unconscious. It didn't look like she had been forcefully knocked out, the way she was lying didn't suggest that, so what had happened?

Taroko nudged Sakura with her snout, but the girl didn't stir. "Danromi, stay here and keep an eye on her. I'll go after Sasuke. You can find me again, right?"

Danromi hopped off of Taroko's back. "Yeah, you're easy to find among the tall pale things."

"Humans," Taroko reminded.

Danromi wrinkled her snout. "Whatever."

Taroko rolled her eyes and ran off into the undergrowth again, tracking Kakashi's scent to where he was fighting Sasuke.

Taroko watched as Sasuke got a few good hits in before darting out and making a grab for the bells with her teeth. Kakashi turned into a log and got away, Taroko's jaws snapping shut on thin air.

Taroko stopped, digging her claws into the ground to stop her momentum. She shook herself, turning to Sasuke. 'Come on, I know what he's doing. Listen, and we'll pass this test, don't, and we'll all fail.'

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, but nodded, following her back into the undergrowth.

Taroko poked Sakura with one of her claws this time. 'Still out? Really?'

"Really," Danromi noted dryly.

'When did you pick up morse code?' Taroko asked, staring at the small dragon. She also spoke it out loud.

"Lucky guess," Danromi replied, shrugging.

"What did you want to say?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

Taroko leveled him with a flat stare. 'When Naruto gets here.' With that, she let out a piercing screeching chirp, designed to be heard for miles. Naruto would hear, and come.

Sure enough, two minutes later, Naruto materialized next to Sasuke, startling the Uchiha. "Where did you come from dobe?"

Naruto shrugged. "The bushes?"

Taroko shook her head. 'One of you two will have to explain it to Sakura when she wakes up. I'm not doing it twice. Alright, you know that neither of you have a chance against a jounin, right?'

"Yeah, I'm not that stupid," Naruto said.

Sasuke didn't say anything, so Taroko took that as a sign to continue. 'And you know a genin team is supposed to be three genin and a jounin sensei, right?'

"Iruka did say that in class," Sasuke agreed reluctantly.

Taroko bobbed her head. 'Right. Anyway, with this test, he has two options. Pass all three of us, or pass only one or two, and find other people to fill the remaining spaces.'

"Or pass none of us," Naruto added.

'Or that,' Taroko agreed. 'You can agree that Kakashi seems like he really wouldn't bother doing the extra work, right?'

"Yeah, he barely moved while fighting me." Sasuke sounded sour, so Taroko left that alone.

'Either way this goes, he won't do that second option, he's too lazy to bother applying for another genin or two to join the team, or wait an entire year for the next graduating class.'

"I'm not waiting a year for a full genin team." Naruto deadpanned.

"I don't want to either," Sasuke agreed.

'So you think you can work together?' Taroko asked. 'I'm pretty sure that's the key to passing this test. Now, one of you please wake up Sakura and explain it quickly, we're running out of time. Figure out a plan, I'm going to smash the alarm clock. You attack when you can.'

Naruto nodded, kneeling next to Sakura and beginning to shake her.

"Danromi, you stay here, come tell me when they're ready," Taroko told the tiny dragon. Danromi nodded, flapping up to rest on Sasuke's head.

Taroko slid into the clearing, looking around for Kakashi. He didn't seem to be there, so she carefully snuck closer to the alarm clock.

"Doing something?" Kakashi asked, appearing next to the alarm clock with a puff of smoke.

Taroko shrugged, dashing right for him, and by extension, the clock.

She tried a taijutsu exchange, swinging her tail towards the clock when she could, trying to knock it off of its stump. Unfortunately, Kakashi managed to counter her at every turn. He was playing with her. That wasn't annoying at all…

Danromi came flapping out a moment before Sasuke and Naruto crashed through the undergrowth, engaging Kakashi. Taroko leaped back, snatching the alarm clock in her jaws. A terribly aimed kunai from the undergrowth bounced off her hide, and she sent a deadpan glare at Sakura.

"My alarm clock!" Kakashi cried, probably more dramatically then was warranted. "Release it!"

"Give us the bells and she will!" Naruto said proudly, leaping back to stand next to her.

Kakashi sighed as the alarm went off. "Fiine, you pass. Is that what you were looking for?"

"Yep!" Naruto chirped. Sasuke just nodded happily.

**(A/N) There we go! All done! Wanna see D-ranks, or right to Wave? Also, poll!**


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N) D-ranks! This should be interesting… Same as last time. Taroko and Danromi with "" instead of '' are speaking in their own tongue. Except when Danromi decides to speak human. Then she's speaking human sometimes. Just...watch the tags, it'll say whether she spoke in human or not. Also, Gore warning! I'll place bold markings at the beginning and end of it. **

"Here's your first mission!" Kakashi chirped, offering a scroll to them.

Naruto took it cautiously, opening it up. Taroko stuck her snout over his shoulder, tilting her head to see it better.

'Walking the dogs,' Taroko tapped. 'Fascinating.' She backed off slightly, shaking her head and body.

"It won't be hard, right?" Danromi chirped. She had picked up morse code quickly, although didn't use it much.

"Not really. We may want to assist them in herding the dogs, should they prove too difficult for them."

Danromi chirped wordlessly, amused.

'Naruto, those are too big for you,' Taroko noted. "If he tries those dogs, we'll have to save him probably."

Danromi snorted, then sneezed right after. Her tail whipped from side to side, and she adjusted her wings. "You'll just have to herd them then. I won't be much help, they're all bigger then I am."

Taroko shook herself. "We'll see."

"I'll manage," Naruto told her, after she was clearly finished chatting with Danromi. "I'm pretty strong!"

'It's how strong you are that is in debate,' Taroko tapped dryly. Naruto pouted at her.

When they received the dogs, Naruto's almost immediately tried to dislocate his arms.

Taroko chirped in laughter at him, and then growled at the dogs, thoroughly terrifying them, and halting all attempts to tear Naruto's arms out of his sockets.

With Taroko's assistance with the dogs, they were walked, and the mission was completed.

Grocery shopping for some old people was… an adventure. Taroko didn't see the problem they had with her, although Danromi was mostly cooed over and called cute, something that made the tiny dragon ruffle her feathers and prance like a peacock.

'Why aren't I called cute!' Taroko asked.

"You have too many teeth!" Danromi chirped. "Mine are just blunt and cute."

"You're too big to be called cute," Sakura informed her. "You're pretty."

Taroko preened. 'Thank you.'

"And this, is the Tora catching mission! The bane of every genin since the first Hokage!"

'What is this Tora?' Taroko asked cautiously.

"A cat! And no, Taroko, you can't eat it, it must be caught unscathed."

Taroko huffed. 'It's a mission, I wasn't going to eat it.'

"I can grab it! My teeth won't injure it!" Danromi chirped happily.

"Alright, I want a C-rank, I am so done with D-ranks!" Naruto declared.

Taroko bobbed her head. 'That last mission, the cat one was it, I am so done.'

"We can handle a C-rank, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke insisted.

"Let's do it!" Danromi declared, in human tongue. Taroko was probably the least surprised, she had heard Danromi practicing human sounds for the last two months.

Naruto gaped. "Danromi! You can speak?"

Danromi preened. "Of course I can. Why can't Taroko?"

'I don't have the vocal chords for it.' Taroko tapped, wrinkling her nose.

"Maybe I can get Jiji to pair you up! Danromi does the speaking and stuff for you both!" Naruto said, grinning widely.

"I don't think the Hokage would agree to that," Kakashi said mildly.

Naruto pouted. "Aww, oh well. So, can we go get a C-rank!?"

Kakashi sighed. "I suppose I can be talked into it. Let's go."

Danromi chirped in victory, flapping up to bed in Kakashi's hair. Taroko snorted at his entirely uncaring expression, trotting off to lead the way to the mission desk.

"We're gonna get a C-rank!" Naruto chanted quietly on their way to the mission desk.

"Ah, Team 7, here to get a mission?"

"We'd like a C-rank, jiji!" Naruto shouted as soon as he entered the room.

The Hokage sent a raised eyebrow at Kakashi, clearly ignoring the dragon currently sleeping on his head amidst the mass of silver spikes. Kakashi nodded, but not too much so as not to disturb Danromi. Taroko made a purring noise when the Hokage selected a scroll from a different pile then the usual one.

"Alright, your mission is to escort Tazuna-san to his home country of Wave, and protect him from bandits while he finishes his bridge. Bring in Tazuna-san."

Taroko wrinkled her nose as an old drunk came in. He reeked. Of alcohol, of the sea, of way to many things to name, or even want to name. He kinda smelled like something had crawled in his clothes and died.

"He reeks," Danromi chirped to Taroko.

"You don't say," the raptor replied sarcastically. "I'm totally not standing just four feet away from him, and can't at all smell it for myself."

"WHAT'RE THOSE!" Tazuna shouted, the fact there was a living, breathing, dragon and dinosaur just four feet away, apparently finally breaking through the haze of alcohol.

"Taroko is a dinosaur," Kakashi said patiently, pointing to Taroko. "And Danromi is the one on my head. She's a dragon."

Tazuna looked horrified.

"Don't worry!" Naruto said, grinning at him. "We'll keep you real safe!"

"You're just kids!" Tazuna sounded as horrified as he looked, and Taroko felt no remorse in laughing at him.

'We are far from merely kids,' Taroko tapped.

"She said that we're far from merely kids," Naruto translated for Tazuna. "She speaks in morse code!"

Tazuna looked rather faint, but nodded.

The Hokage smiled. "You leave tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

Team 7 nodded, and left.

Tazuna met them at the gate the next morning, his pack on his back, the others with their bags as well. Taroko carried much of Naruto and her stuff, as she was best suited to it, able to carry it and not be hindered in combat. Not much, at least.

"Shall we leave?" Kakashi asked, sounding almost amused as he took in Naruto's minimal backpack, and Taroko's covered sides.

**(A/N) I would suggest skipping this bit, if you're at all squeamish. **

Taroko spotted the puddle first, and sniffed at it. It smelled like human, so she bared her teeth at it, causing two people to jump out of it.

"Look at that, one of 'em even got a dumb little animal!" One of them cheered, even as Taroko bared very sharp teeth at them.

Taroko narrowed her eyes, tapping out a pattern quickly. 'I'll show you dumb little animal.' With that, she growled, sending Tazuna diving behind Kakashi, and lunged at the one that had spoken.

Kakashi covered Sakura's eyes quickly, reaching for Sasuke's, but was batted away absently as Sasuke watched Taroko tear out the man's throat with morbid curiosity. Naruto just watched with a lack of caring that came from years of watching Taroko kill and eat live creatures. Danromi cheerfully joined the bloody melee, stripping off smaller sections of flesh from the dead demon brother.

With the person taken care of, and very much dead, Taroko proceed to do the same thing to the other guy in a spray of blood.

Kakashi turned Sakura around and started ushering her and Tazuna down the road. "Why don't you two go ahead a little bit, and don't look back, hm?"

Sakura, having heard the assorted noises that came with ripping throats out, nodded quickly, not looking back once.

Taroko, with both enemies dead, began eating her fill of the rest of the meat on a human body, taking the care to completely sever the head, and roll that out of the way. She knew they could probably turn the two heads in for bounties.

As it was nearing midday, Taroko did end up eating a good portion of the two Demon Brother's bodies. Easier than hunting down enough small animals to feed herself, and while she was carrying the meat they'd had in their fridge in a storage scroll, it was better to preserve it for when it was needed. Not like it would go bad in a storage seal anyway.

Kakashi, keeping his eyes averted from the rather bloody scene that Taroko was making of the Demon Brother's bodies, picked up the brother's heads, sealing them away.

Taroko finished, and Kakashi quickly buried the bodies with a quick earth jutsu. Then a water jutsu to spray Taroko's bloody snout and get the blood off.

**(A/N) This also ends it. For those of you that skipped, Taroko killed the Demon Brothers with much blood, and Danromi and her ate them. Well, ate some of them. Meat is meat, right? SDC ends tomorrow! FYI.**


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N) Hi!**

"What was that about?" Tazuna asked, ever the innocent civilian.

Taroko shook her head and snorted. She chirped to Danromi to translate while she was walking. "Just a bit of body disposal. Nothing you needed to see, Tazuna-san."

Danromi translated that, curling deeper into the spot she had claimed on Kakashi's head.

"Body disposal, she calls it," Sakura muttered.

"They were getting rid of the bodies," Sasuke pointed out. "I would've thought you would've recognized that."

Sakura blinked a few times, then frowned minutely.

Taroko snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Lets pause here, shall we?" Kakashi asked, eye smiling. "We can get an early start on the boat."

Tazuna nodded, and pulled his backpack off to drop it on the floor. "Works for me."

Taroko chirped in agreement, moving so Naruto could find the scroll he had put his tent in. Personally, Taroko much preferred sleeping without a tent, so they never bothered with one for her.

With camp set up, Taroko trotted up to Kakashi. 'Permission to hunt, captain?'

"Y'know, 'sensei' is the usual address here," Kakashi noted blandly, not bothering to look up from his book.

'With all due respect, captain, when you teach us something, I will address you as my teacher. Until then, you are simply the mission leader.'

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her. "And if I give an order?"

'Still my captain. Sensei teach things, usually. Captains give orders and lead missions.'

"Fine, you can hunt," Kakashi said after a long period of silence.

Taroko chirped happily, perhaps a bit louder than was necessary, but no one could prove anything, and darted off, basically disappearing as she hit the trees and blended in.

Sasuke had started a fire and set up sticks for cooking meat by the time she had gotten back with her catch. Two rabbits and a random grouse that really shouldn't be wandering this area.

'Who's cooking?' Taroko tapped, carefully not dripping blood everywhere.

"I can," Naruto sighed after a moment when nobody volunteered. He took the two rabbits from Taroko, leaving the area to skin and gut them. Taroko set the grouse to the side, spitting out a few feathers.

'Stupid grouse. Freaked out and got feathers everywhere.' Taroko tapped, settling down next to the fire, curling slightly so her entire left side was close to the heat.

"They do that," Danromi noted, hopping down to nose the grouse. "Smells weird."

Taroko sniffed the grouse too. 'I figured that was just the difference between chicken and grouse. We haven't had grouse.'

Danromi picked it up flapping over to offer it to Kakashi. "Check," she demanded.

Kakashi obligingly sniffed it closely. "Smells like grouse, but I'll do a poison check." He did it quickly, checking the results. "It's a common pesticide. Not lethal to humans or large predators. Even Danromi should've been fine. Although use of this pesticide has been banned from the Land of Fire for a while. The grouse must be from outside of the Land of Fire. Was probably brought in and escaped. It's fine to eat. Probably more dangerous to leave to decay, actually."

"Oh, cool," Danromi muttered, flapping up to curl up on his head again.

Other than the pesticide thing, most of the trip went fine.

Taroko smelled the people following them first, then Naruto found the rabbit, which did not smell like any of the indigions species, and their followers attacked.

Taroko let out a piercing screech to warn her teammates, and Kakashi apparently got it, because he tackled his students to the ground, leaving Taroko to get Tazuna. Which she managed just in time, hooking her teeth into his shirt and pulling him down as she flattened herself against the ground. The massive sword flew over their heads, embedding in a tree across the road.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A mocking voice asked, it's owner materializing on the sword.

Taroko stood up and growled at him.

"A nin animal?" He asked suspiciously.

Kakashi managed to stand up as well, Danromi standing on his head and puffing up her feathers to look bigger.

"Two then," he amended, raising an eyebrow at the tiny dragon. "Second one looks pretty useless though."

Danromi's feathers puffed up further, and smoke came from her mouth, but she held down her fire.

"Hey! Don't diss my nin animals!" Naruto shouted at him, getting a little puffed up himself.

The nin snorted. "Please, they're more like nin shrimps. Although the bigger one looks like it might even be able to kill a bunny rabbit."

Taroko growled again, louder this time, and flashed her teeth.

The nin growled right back and flashed his own sharp teeth. Taroko was of the opinion that her teeth were far more impressive.

"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi said. "A-ranked missing nin in the bingo book. Demon of the Mist."

"Aww, you know me," Zabuza remarked sarcastically. "Shall I return the favor? Kakashi Hatake, A-ranked Konoha shinobi in the bingo book. Sharingan no Kakashi."

Sasuke looked so confused, Taroko almost pitied him. But he hadn't bothered looking up their teacher in a bingo book, so he wouldn't know that. Taroko had bothered looking him up, and it said he had copied over a thousand jutsu. Personally, Taroko was wondering why he couldn't just teach them a few of them. He had to know at least a few D-ranked ones.

"Suiton: Hiding in the mist," Zabuza said, grinning as he disappeared into the fast encroaching mist.

Danromi breathed in deeply, blowing out a stream of fire, vaporizing some of the mist in the surrounding area just in time for Zabuza to have to redirect an attack on Kakashi.

"Heart, liver, spine," Zabuza remarked lazily.

"All wonderful places to kill a human, yes we know," Danromi replied, spreading her wings in an unsuccessful intimidation technique.

"Oh, the small one can talk," he sounded almost disinterested, and Taroko put her nose to the air, trying to find him by scent alone. Confusingly, she could smell him from four different locations. Wait, three smelled more like fresh water, rather than the salt water he stunk of.

Taroko lunged for the one that smelled right, snapping her jaws shut on thin air. He had moved. There were more fresh water versions of him, and Taroko quickly sorted through the influx of fresh water scents to find him again. She narrowly dodged a clumsy kunai thrown by Naruto. She let out a bark of warning before lunging and deflecting the massive blade off her side, quite a few scales coming off with the sword.

Taroko grunted, feeling the blood begin to drip, and smelling it as it hit the ground. His blood needed to be spilled today. Also, that would need to be bandaged soon. She could afford to lose a bit of blood, but not that much. She nodded to Tazuna, then leaped after the real one again, only to be intercepted by Kakashi, who looked sternly at her.

"Protect Tazuna, Taroko."

Taroko growled at him and shook her head. Danromi figured out the problem and translated, after blowing out another stream of fire and evaporating some of the mist. "She's the only one that can find the actual him, instead of all these water clones."

Kakashi looked frustrated, but acquiesced. "Fine. But I do the actual fighting."

Taroko growled, but lunged at where she could smell the actual one. He tried to attack her again, but Kakashi intercepted, holding the massive blade with a pair of kunai.

A water clone attacked Taroko from the side, but when she tore into it and it exploded into water, she realized they were far less powerful than the original. She lunged after another, tearing it apart as well, pausing momentarily to shake off the water before lunging again.

A kunai impaled itself in a clone she had pinned down, and she paused to nod to Sasuke, who'd thrown it, before leaping at another clone.

With the clones down, and Kakashi and Zabuza fighting with jutsu on the water, Taroko limped back to Naruto and the others, standing in front of them, ready for anything else he'd try and throw at them.

Naruto tried to touch the large wound on her side, and she absently hissed at him. He stopped quickly, and instead set about removing her harness with it's scrolls. A few of the straps had gotten damaged, and it was about to fall off anyway. Naruto quickly tied it to his own back with a bit of assistance from Sakura, who apparently knew how to tie knots.

Taroko kept a close eye on Zabuza and Kakashi while she checked her injuries. Long scrape on her tail, from being thrown into a few trees, the large wound on her side that was already clotting, the slice on her lower left leg, the one on her right thigh, and the smaller scrape on her neck. All in all, not too bad. She had gotten worse as a hatchling, trying to take down stuff bigger than her. She would heal in time.

The boys executed an interesting maneuver, stunning Zabuza and allowing Kakashi to pin him down.

Taroko glared as the second person that had been following them appeared and took Zabuza. Unfortunately, as she couldn't walk on water, she couldn't stop the person. Kakashi managed to stumble back to land before he passed out, Leaving Taroko to hold him up, despite her own injuries.

"We should get those cleaned out and bandaged," Tazuna spoke, gesturing to Taroko's injuries.

**(A/N) And that's enough! A fun show, don't'cha think? Also, poll for SDC, those of you who haven't voted yet. Don't worry, those choices will show up again. Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

'You don't say,' Taroko tapped sarcastically, so done with everything. Especially their captain.

"I got that. Sakura, check Kakashi-sensei for injuries please," Naruto said, pulling out the first aid kit scroll, and unsealing bandages and some antibacterial stuff.

He carefully wiped Taroko's injuries down, bandaging them as he went.

When he was done, Taroko carefully stood up. 'We can place Kakashi on my back carefully, he's not that heavy.'

"But you're injured," Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow.

Taroko sniffed impatiently. 'I can handle far worse injuries than this, thank you very much.'

Danromi hopped onto her head and settled down, purring softly.

Sakura and Sasuke working together managed to get Kakashi settled on Taroko's back, the dino thanking the fact that Naruto often needed her to carry the deer they killed for the Nara. And the fact that Kakashi wasn't all that heavy.

Despite having sustained worse injuries previously in her life, Taroko gratefully collapsed when they arrived at the house four hours later. The others arranged Kakashi on the bedroll attached to his backpack, then settled in themselves.

Taroko, with some difficulty, stood up, making her way outside. She settled down in the bushes beside the door.

Danromi joined her after a bit. "Doing something?"

"There's no guarantee we won't be attacked in the night," Taroko chirped quietly.

"You know that you have to rest, right? You aren't immortal."

"I know that. I can rest while they are awake."

Danromi sighed. "Taroko. I'll keep watch and wake you if someone comes. You're hurt. I'm not."

Taroko narrowed her eyes, but acquiesced. "Fine."

The sun woke Taroko in the morning. She yawned, startling Danromi.

"You're awake," she greeted.

Taroko trilled in agreement, gently moving her tail to check it. It hurt, but not as badly as yesterday. "Standing up."

A spark of chakra against her scales marked Danromi holding on, so Taroko stood up, heavily favoring her injured leg.

"Hopefully we have time to recover before that man comes back," Danromi noted worriedly. "You're injured pretty badly."

"I can still hunt," Taroko replied. "I have to be able to."

"If you insist," Danromi said worriedly.

"Thought I'd find you out here," Naruto noted, yawning as he came out. "Come on, we gotta change your bandages."

Taroko nodded, following Naruto into the house.

The woman inside freaked as Taroko came in. Previously, Taroko hadn't seen the woman, although she had smelled her.

"Tsunami, this is Taroko! She's my ninja dinosaur!" Naruto chirped.

Taroko snorted, nudging Naruto roughly. He stumbled forward. "Hey!"

"Bandages?" Danromi asked, flapping from Taroko's head to the table in the middle of the room.

Tsunami squeaked. "And what are you?"

"A dragon!" Danromi chirped. "I'm Danromi!"

"O-oh, alright." She managed, turning back to the stove. "Please inform the rest of your team breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. It's the least I can do."

"Me and Taroko will grab our own breakfasts," Danromi assured the woman. "But I'll tell the kids." She hopped onto Naruto's head that time, curling up in his hair.

They walked upstairs, only to find Kakashi awake and trying to get up.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, clearly distressed. "You can't be walking yet!"

'Sit down captain,' Taroko tapped, settling down herself and giving Naruto clear access to her injuries. 'Breakfast is portable after all, and I will not be a crutch or a stretcher for you again.'

"Is that how I got here?" Kakashi asked, amused. He did cease trying to stand up though.

"Yeah, we managed to get you up onto her back and get you here," Sasuke said, monotone.

Naruto started changing Taroko's bandages. "Probably lucky Taroko didn't collapse halfway here."

'I'm fine,' Taroko tapped, tail swishing back and forth a few times.

"You're no more fine then I am," Kakashi noted.

'At least I'm not chakra deprived,' Taroko deadpanned. 'I can work past my injuries and wasn't ever in any real danger of dying from them. You really were. Chakra exhaustion isn't something to play with, Captain.'

"Whatever the case, Tsunami says dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Or she did a few minutes ago." Danromi noted.

"You guys can't hunt right now," Naruto said. "Maybe in a few days, but we don't want this infected. We have enough stored."

Taroko nodded, resting her head on the floor.

"I'll unseal some when we head for breakfast," Naruto promised.

Within a day, Taroko was mostly recovered, and Kakashi was up and walking around, albeit with the assistance of some crutches they had found.

"Alright," Kakashi said, eye smiling at them. "Let's learn how to climb trees, shall we?"

'I don't have the arms to climb trees,' Taroko tapped, giving Kakashi a very unimpressed look.

"Oh, we won't be using our arms," Kakashi said, still eye smiling.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "And how will we do that?"

Kakashi walked towards a tree, then stepped onto the vertical surface, calmly walking up the tree.

"Oh, like hanging onto someone's head, but while walking," Danromi reasoned.

"Chakra," Sakura said, getting it first. Well, saying it first. Taroko totally understood it first, she just couldn't say it fast enough.

"Exactly, my cute little student." He walked back down, tossing kunai at the genin's feet. "I assume you can mark your own tree, Taroko?"

Taroko experimentally slashed at the tree. 'Yes.'

Danromi hopped off her perch on Sasuke's head, somehow attaching herself to one of the nearby trees with chakra. "Easy!"

"I can't fly," Taroko chirped at the dinosaur. "Not as easy as you think."

There was one major problem. While the others could just run up the tree and fall off, then try again, that wouldn't exactly work for Taroko. Her tail and general body shape mostly got in the way.

"Try lying on the ground sideways, and rolling onto your side and sticking that way?" Danromi suggested.

As she had nothing better to do, Taroko settled down on the ground, rolled onto her side, and started trying to stick her feet to the tree.

"I made it!" Sakura cheered a moment later, looking down at them all from a higher branch.

"Good job Sakura, why don't you go keep an eye on the builder?" Kakashi suggested, eye smiling at the girl.

Sakura nodded, walking down and then walking away.

"You'd better hurry if you want to catch up to her," Kakashi sang, leaning against a tree.

The boys, previously having been staring after Sakura with open mouths, quickly went back to running up their trees.

Taroko got it after another hour and a half, Sasuke getting it not too long after. Taroko stayed and waited for Naruto to get it, hunting in the surrounding areas if she got too bored or hungry.

After a while, he fell asleep, so Taroko settled down to watch over him as he slept.

It was probably good, as a person, with a similar scent to the person that had taken Zabuza, wandered in, beginning to pick herbs.

Taroko growled lowly, and the person startled, finding the raptor glaring at them from two feet away.

"H-hello," the person said.

'Hello,' Taroko tapped impatiently. 'Why do you work with Zabuza? And why shouldn't I just kill you here and eat the body?'

"How do you know that?" The person asked guardedly.

Taroko tossed her head. 'I have an excellent sense of smell. I would've stopped you, but I can't walk on water. Now, why shouldn't I eat you?'

**(A/N) A very good question. Why do you think Taroko shouldn't eat you, Haku? Probably something about their precious people. But hey, we don't control the Haku. **

**Anyway, there's a poll about an update spot. Why don't you go check it out? I do have cool stories there after all. Well, the people on discord think so. **


	9. Chapter 9

**(A/N) *sighs* did you want Haku eaten?**

The person's scent abruptly changed, taking on a far icier and colder note. A clone. Taroko growled, lunging straight at the clone, tearing it's head off in a spray of ice that quickly turned to water.

Taroko snorted, shaking herself clear of remaining water.

Naruto finally woke up, looking around in confusion. "Wha-what happened?"

Taroko shook herself again. 'Nothing.'

"If you say so," Naruto said doubtfully, yawning.

'You should be getting back to the house. You slept the entire night.' Taroko noted, checking the sky.

Naruto freaked out for a bit. "Whaa! Why did you let me sleep!"

Taroko shrugged a shoulder. 'You were tired.'

Naruto frowned at her. "Please wake me up next time."

Taroko reluctantly nodded.

Naruto hurried back to the house, Taroko following behind silently. She noticed Naruto looking back to make sure she was still there, which meant she was plenty sneaky to evade him. And hopefully many other people.

"Ah, there you are," Kakashi said cheerfully, eye smiling at them.

Taroko rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

Danromi chirped cheerfully at them. "Morning. Nice to see you!"

Taroko yawned widely, showing all of her teeth to the small dragon. 'I'm taking a nap.'

"You coulda woken me up," Naruto said sulkily.

Taroko yawned again, shaking her head. 'I said you were tired. You needed the sleep.'

"You're the injured one!" Naruto squawked. "You're the one who should be sleeping!"

Taroko shook her head again. 'I'm fine. I'm mostly recovered anyway.'

"Go freaking take a nap, Taroko," Sakura ordered.

Taroko wrinkled her nose at Sakura but ultimately obeyed, trotting up and into the room the shinobi shared to take a nap.

Taroko woke up a few hours later to Naruto changing her bandages.

"You're right, they are mostly healed up," Naruto said once he noticed she was awake.

Taroko leveled him with a glare that clearly meant 'well duh'.

"You're right, I should've listened to you," Naruto admitted, discarding the bandages and not bothering to rewrap the already mostly healed wounds.

Taroko smiled smugly and stood up. 'The week is almost up. I would suggest getting up that tree quickly. After all, you're the only one who hasn't gotten up it yet.'

Naruto briefly freaked out. "I can't even regulate my chakra enough!"

'I'm sure you'll get it eventually,' Taroko tapped, trotting out the door to ask Kakashi to teach her to walk on water. Zabuza's associate would not be out of her reach ever again.

"I don't think I will," was Kakashi's reply. "It's a chuunin level skill."

Taroko glared at him, then decided to try and figure it out herself. Couldn't be that much different from tree walking right?

She ended up at the beach, where she could try and walk on water without the annoyance of not actually really being able to get out of the water because the banks were too steep. Although that wasn't an issue anymore, was it. Now she could just walk up the sides.

Taroko walked out a little ways into the ocean, and started trying to place her foot on top of the water.

Nope, too little chakra. She added more and more until she managed to get her foot on the surface of the water until a small wave came up, the water under her foot shifted, and her foot splashed back into the water.

"Dang it!" Taroko chirped, trying again. Again, the water under her foot shifted, and it fell again.

The water was always moving, unlike the unmoving bark of the tree. This would probably take a while.

She paused for lunch a few hours later, running into Danromi when she headed to hunt.

"I saw you storm off, was there a reason?" Danromi asked while Taroko tried to locate prey.

"Kakashi refused to teach me to walk on water," Taroko replied, taking a deep breath in through her nose. "I think we scared away most of the prey around here."

"I think that white cockatoo fluff of his could use a trim," Danromi decided after a moment. "Weren't you just at the beach, did you smell any fish nearish to shore?"

"Some I guess, why? Planning on trying to fish?"

"Might as well," Danromi replied, shrugging. "If I can't catch anything we can head up wind and see if there's any prey on the top of this island."

Taroko nodded, and they headed for the beach.

"So, what were you doing on the beach?" Danromi asked, hopping from tree branch to tree branch, gliding between them.

"Trying to walk on water," Taroko replied, sighing. "Can't seem to get it though."

"Is there a specific reason?" Danromi asked, tilting her head at Taroko.

"I don't know, and that's a big part of the problem. I can get my foot on the water, but it destabilizes and sinks soon after."

"D'ya know why it does that?" Danromi wondered, landing on the soft sand of the beach.

Taroko shrugged. "The water destabilizes, so I do."

"Can you fluctuate your chakra to match the water's movement maybe?" Danromi questioned, tilting her head. "It would keep you steady and stuff."

Taroko chirped, annoyed that she hadn't thought of that. "Thanks Danromi. That's probably the answer."

Danromi grinned with all of her tiny needle sharp teeth, then flapped off to try her wing at fishing.

Taroko walked a few inches into the water again, summoning up her chakra and setting her foot on the surface of the water. When the water moved, she tried moving her chakra with it, but failed again and again.

"I think you're just reacting to the water," Danromi chirped around a mouthful of small fish.

"What?" Taroko asked, not quite understanding her through the fish. Danromi flapped over to the dryer sand and dropped her catch there.

"You're reacting to the water. You should be acting with it," she said again.

"What does that even mean?" Taroko trilled.

Danromi nudged some of the fish towards her. "Eat first! Then I'll explain. After I've tested my theory."

Taroko sighed, but couldn't really stop her. She trotted ashore, quickly scarfing down the fish Danromi had somehow managed to fit in her small mouth. It was little more than a snack, but it would do for now.

Danromi walked up to a puddle, set her foot on top of it, then the other, not falling in. She hopped up and down a few times, then grinned.

Taroko leveled an annoyed glare at her. Danromi ruffled her feathers proudly, flicking her tail.

"What is it," Taroko insisted.

"Well, you were reacting to the water," Danromi explained. "The small delay between the water doing it's thing and you reacting to it was enough to dump you in the water. Instead, you have to be just straight up randomly fluctuating your chakra, and eventually you'll just sorta, I dunno, get it."

Taroko sighed. "If you think that'll work, alright."

She trotted back into the water, set her foot on top of the water, and started fluctuating her chakra. After a few movements of the water, her chakra synced with the chakra in the water, and it started properly moving in order to keep her on the water.

"Good job!" Danromi chirped from shore.

Taroko hesitantly placed her other foot on the water, and it held. She was walking on water! And without instruction! Take that Kakashi Hatake!

Taroko chirped in triumph, turning in a circle to make sure she was firmly on the water.

Danromi grinned at her from shore. "Yay! Take that Kakashi-sensei!"

"Take that captain," Taroko trilled quietly to herself.

"I bet Naruto would get it real quick," Danromi noted. "Maybe it'd improve his control enough to climb that stupid tree."

"I'm sure other people have taken longer to learn the exercise," Taroko said, trotting back to shore, continuing to walk on the water until she reached shore.

"Maybe," Danromi agreed doubtfully. "But he's be working stupidly long shifts. Doesn't he know we'll probably be attacked tomorrow?"

"No," Taroko said. "Kakashi didn't tell any of the kids we'll probably be attacked. Remind me to stay behind tomorrow, just in case that flea bag decides to send thugs after Inari and Tsunami."

"Will do," Danromi agreed, settling on her back, tiny claws digging into Taroko's scales a bit.

"But let everyone else go to the bridge," Taroko trilled, breathing in deeply to track down Naruto. "This way. He's over here. Let's fetch him before he passes out here again."

**(A/N) Zabuza next week. I make no promises for the lives of the thugs that attack Inari and Tsunami. Or the innocence of poor Inari. Or a lack of bloody and mildly gory scenes next chapter. So, like, be warned. **


	10. Chapter 10

**(A/N) From the point it says 'Almost 20 min' to 'She arrived to chaos'.**

'At least one of us should remain here,' Taroko tapped. 'In case Gato sends people here.'

"Would he do that?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"To get extra leverage? Absolutely," Danromi said, ruffling her feathers. "It's what scumbags like him do."

Kakashi stared down Taroko. "Why don't you stay here, you suggested it, afterall."

'Sure,' Taroko replied, tilting her head challengingly.

Kakashi spun on his heel, ushering his genin out of the door, Danromi included. The small dragon looked over her shoulder and shrugged.

Taroko snorted, plopping herself in the doorway to look out for anyone who might come.

Almost 20 minutes later, she smelled two idiots heading towards the house, foolishly letting the wind be from their backs, bringing their scent right to Taroko. She stood up, trotting inside to nose Tsunami into hiding. Unfortunately, the woman didn't know morse code. Fortunately, she had nerves of steel and some intelligence, and let Taroko nose her upstairs.

"Is someone coming?" She finally asked.

Taroko nodded, pushing her just a bit farther with her nose, gesturing to a linen closet. Tsunami got it, and quickly hid inside.

Taroko trotted back down stairs, and just managed to hide herself best she could behind a counter, waiting for the thugs.

They entered the house, looking around carefully. Taroko tracked them by their smells, and grinned as one started to enter the kitchen. Once he spotted her, he made to scream.

Taroko put a quick stop to that by tearing his face off. Then tearing out his throat to make sure he was dead. She felt minor regret at spattering Tsunami's kitchen with blood, but ignored it and shot after the other thug, which was starting to head upstairs. She landed on his back when he was about to get on the first set. A quick flick of her head, and his head was torn clean off, spurting blood everywhere.

A startled scream from above her and she looked up, spotting Inari, who had apparently heard the commotion and come to look.

Oops. That would probably traumatize him…

Taroko decided to deal with that later, hopped off the body, took it by the ankle, and started dragging it outside. She could use a snack. And she didn't want to leave two bodies for Tsunami to clean up on top of the blood. That would be kinda rude.

She dragged the other body outside as well, stripping some flesh from both for a snack, then ran off towards the bridge. It was highly unlikely that Gato would've thought to send two waves of thugs, he wasn't actually that smart.

She arrived to chaos. Mist covered the bridge, but it was clearing fast. A dome of ice covered one side of the bridge, and the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza took up the rest of the bridge. Sakura was shakily standing with Tazuna on the near end of the bridge, and Taroko trotted up to her.

'Sakura, take Tazuna and go into the woods. Keep him safe.'

Sakura nodded quickly, hurriedly ushering Tazuna off the bridge and to safety.

Taroko figured Kakashi was doing fine now, and raced for the dome. Was that fire? What on earth was going on in there?

Naruto and Sasuke were back to back in the dome, Danromi standing on Sasuke's head, her feathers puffed up threateningly.

Taroko scented the air, picking up the smell of Zabuza's apprentice/accomplice. Oh yes, they were going down. She rammed the ice dome, disappointed when it didn't even crack. She lashed out with a claw, managing to scratch the surface, but it healed almost immediately.

Taroko glared at the ice even as another hail of senbon flew from the mirrors. What use was she if she couldn't break a stupid mirror thing. She reinforced her tail with chakra and tried that, not getting a crack out of it.

"You will not crack my mirrors," Zabuza's apprentice monotoned, staring at Taroko creepily.

"Or will I," Taroko shot back, lashing out with her claws again. Again, barely a scratch that healed up immediately.

A round of senbon later and Sasuke was on the ground, seemingly dead. He wasn't, at least, Taroko didn't think so, he didn't smell dead, but Naruto got angry anyway. Red chakra, smelling of smoke and fire encircled him, clearly intimidating the shinobi, who hesitated.

Naruto lunged for the mirrors, and Taroko backed up quickly, just barely avoiding the mirror shards that fell from Naruto's punch.

The shinobi skidded away, mask cracked.

Taroko watched with hard eyes. This would be Naruto's first human kill. It would be important later.

She glanced over at Kakashi and Zabuza, noting the smell of ozone and the dogs grabbing onto Zabuza's limbs. A ball of lightning appeared in Kakashi's hand, and he said the technique's name. Chidori. Chirping of a thousand birds.

The name certainly suited it, Taroko thought sulkily. It was stupidly loud. And ridiculously bright. Wasn't it an assasination jutsu or something?

She blinked as a body threw itself between the chidori and Zabuza. It was the shinobi. Well, Naruto hadn't managed to kill them it seemed. Well, the shinobi was dead now, and that was all that mattered.

Slow clapping came from behind Zabuza, everyone turning to that side of the bridge as the mist dispersed.

"Well done," Gato said mockingly. "Oh no, is he dead? Such a tragedy."

Taroko growled threateningly, baring her teeth.

Gato took a half step backward, then seemed to regain his foolhardy courage. "Get 'em!"

The thugs started moving forward.

"Hey kid," Zabuza asked Naruto. "Pass me a kunai?"

Naruto obliged, and Zabuza caught it between his teeth. Useless arms swinging, he lunged into the fray, taking down many of the bandits. Wounds didn't seem to phase him in the slightest, and even if she wanted to rush to the battle, Taroko held back, knowing this was Zabuza's fight, and she didn't want to intrude.

Zabuza, of course, died of his wounds shortly after the thugs were finished off, Gato's head rolling across the bridge.

Taroko trotted to that side of the bridge, and started knocking the bodies into the water. Even if she did take a few bites out of some of them. Naruto hurried over after a second, helping her throw them off the side.

"We'll bury them." Kakashi said, staring down at the bodies of Zabuza and the shinobi.

Naruto nodded solemnly. "We should."

'On that hill over there,' Taroko suggested, gesturing with her nose towards a nearby hill. 'It overlooks the ocean.'

"Good idea," Kakashi agreed, picking up both bodies easily. "Taroko, do you mind?"

Taroko trotted over after throwing the last person into the sea. "Of course not."

He laid the bodies across her back, and they made their way to the burial sight.

**(A/N) Yes Taroko, that will probably traumatize him. Oh well, it's just Inari. It'll probably be good for him. At which point d'ya think this should end? I wanna hear your opinions on when you wouldn't mind this ending.**


	11. Chapter 11

**(A/N) We're into the Chuunin exams now. Minor gore near the end. **

"Hey Naruto!" A rather well endowed lady plowed through the crowd to shove her face into Naruto's personal space. "Can I borrow your dinosaur!?"

Danromi started snickering while Naruto was frozen in surprise, looking rather like a deer in the headlights. Taroko chirped in amusement.

"Uh, why do you need her?" Naruto asked, confusion overwriting the shock.

"For-" she stopped, looked around, then dragged him to a nearby dango shop.

"Right!" She exclaimed after sitting them down and ordering dango. "So, I asked Hokage-sama, and he said I could, so I want to borrow your dinosaur for the chuunin exams!"

"The chuunin exams? What are those?" Naruto asked.

Taroko sighed heavily, her head dropping onto the table.

Danromi laughed, and explained. "The chuunin exams are what decide if someone's ready to be a chuunin!"

"They're pretty soon, and I need to borrow your velociraptor for the next like, week," the woman said, stuffing a stick of dango in her face.

Naruto looked at Taroko. "Is that alright by you? Do you mind staying with her for a week or so?"

Taroko shook her head, tapping out a pattern. 'Doesn't bother me much.' To Danromi, so no one else could understand, she barked, "make sure he doesn't do anything stupid will you?"

Danromi trilled an affirmation, hopping from Taroko's back to Naruto's head.

Naruto looked between them suspiciously, but dropped it, turning back to the woman. "Who are you?"

"Anko!" she chirped. "The one and only snake mistress in Konoha!"

Oh, Taroko knew her now, she worked in T&I. Maybe they had a few dead bodies that could use cleaning up. She was a bit hungry.

Most of the week went by in a whirlwind of the occasional assisting in torture of prisoners, Anko and a few designers that were brave enough to work with both Anko and Taroko being all over Taroko trying to design a chuunin vest that would fit her, even if it was temporary, it was a good thing to have on hand when Taroko did actually become a chuunin. Or if there were others of her species.

Her instructions for this part of the test? Look intimidating and scare as many people into leaving as she possibly could. Taroko had a feeling it'd be quite a lot of people she got disqualified.

"Any questions?" Anko asked, finishing her tirade about the test with an insane grin on her face.

Kankuro raised his hand. "What's that?" He asked, pointing to Taroko.

"That is Taroko, she is a velociraptor. She is one of the chuunin supervising this test."

Taroko grinned at Kankuro, all of her very sharp teeth on display. Kankuro squeaked in terror, and Taroko gave the full-body shake which meant she was pleased with herself.

Temari raised her hand. "How did a velociraptor become a chuunin?"

"She took the test and passed," Anko replied happily. "Any questions that don't have to do with Chuunin Taroko?"

There was a unanimous shake of their heads, and Anko began the test.

A lot of people forfeited at the end of the test, quite a bit due to Taroko's sharp-toothed grins that somehow made the people she grinned at feel like she was going to hunt them down and eat them. Slowly.

Naruto, of course, was completely immune to it and knew that as soon as the test was over, she'd get Anko to undo the clips holding the vest in place, and trot after Naruto.

"Uh, what's she doing here?" A brave Suna nin asked, pointing to Taroko.

"Huh? Oh, she's my partner, y' know, like the Inuzuka and their ninken? Or like with Danromi here."

They stared at him. "So they didn't actually make a veloci-whatever she is, a chuunin."

"Raptor is an acceptable shortening of her species name," Naruto said. "And no, but she'll make chuunin when I do. Technically we can't count her as part of our forces, but she's a good deal smarter and better than a large section of our shinobi."

An Ame nin scoffed. "A simple creature is better than your shinobi?"

Naruto smiled benignly. "Taroko, you have permission."

Taroko grinned at the nin, waltzing over and nosing the nin roughly. She tapped out a question. 'Hunt?'

"Hey, Ibiki! Can Taroko go hunting?"

Ibiki, the crazy bastard basically appeared next to the poor traumatized Ame nin, stating in a bland tone that was somehow far scarier than Anko's excited grin, "Once we're in the forest, anything's fair game."

Naruto and Taroko grinned in sync. "Would'cha look at that, Taroko, you can do a good hide and hunt! Taroko is a velociraptor, see, and she has a very good sense of smell. What she did when she bumped you with her nose, was take your scent. She'll track you to the ends of the earth, and you won't escape her. You'll see just how good a 'simple creature' is."

The Ame nin was certainly traumatized now and hid behind his teammates.

"Oh, that won't help you. Taroko's species are excellent hunters, better than an entire team of Inuzuka, we checked, trust me, and wickedly intelligent. Perhaps even more intelligent than some summons."

The surrounding genin gaped at him. Except for the Konoha shinobi who knew Taroko from around the village.

"Alright, let's get a move on, we haven't got all day," Ibiki shouted, and Taroko barked with him, making the genin quickly run where Ibiki was leading them.

Everyone signed the wavers, even Taroko, scrolls were handed out, and they were sent into the forest. Taroko took off immediately for where the Ame nin was, and Team 7 followed behind by the treetops.

"Can she really find that ninja?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

"She can find Kakashi-sensei, can't she?" Naruto pointed out, Danromi flying above them. "And she got that guy's scent pretty well."

"She found him," Sasuke said, speeding up. Her hunting calls were ringing through the forest, signaling that she'd found the target.

Screams quickly followed, and Naruto and Sasuke landed in the clearing, Sakura, with her rather weak stomach stayed in the treetops, hidden from sight by foliage.

Taroko had her target pinned down, jaws snapping at his throat. She was really just playing with him, she wasn't really that big of a fan of the taste of human, but he was screaming like the devil himself was after him. She ultimately tore his throat out, blood spurting everywhere. Probably just to shut him up.

The teammates of her target screamed, and one pulled out a scroll, offering it to them. "T-take it! J-just d-don't s-s-send th-that c-creature a-after u-us!"

Taroko chirped at them, and the one holding the scroll dropped it in fright. She made a false lunge towards them and they sprinted away, screaming.

Naruto and Sasuke were busy laughing. "Oh, that was great!" Naruto managed.

Taroko seemed proud of herself. 'Relieved selves,' she tapped, making the boys break out in fresh laughter.

"Can we go?" Sakura hissed from her place in the trees. "And maybe find a river to wash your snout off in, Taroko?"

Taroko chirped at her and nudged the boys roughly with her snout.

"Alright, alright," Naruto replied, his laughter tapering off.

Sakura huffed from her hidden spot. "Come on, with that scroll, we have a set, we just have to get to the tower."

"Straight to the center!" Naruto cheered. "Come on!" He lept up next to Sakura, who batted him away.

"Put on a shirt without a bloody imprint on it, idiot."

"When we stop next," Naruto waved off as Sasuke landed next to him, a similar bloody snout print on it.

Taroko proudly lept up next to them, sticking onto the trunk near them. A lot of the branches weren't thick enough to hold her, so she mostly ran horizontally across the trunks. A feat that had taken ages to perfect.

Sakura sighed. "Alright, whatever. We'll stop next to a stream when we stop for lunch."

Taroko quickly tapped out that she claimed hunting.

"You always do," Sasuke replied, waving a hand in her direction.

Taroko leveled a stare at him and bared her teeth.

"Yes, yes, we know your teeth are sharp, but you haven't brushed, and your mouth reeks of meat," Sakura snapped, shoving Taroko's snout away from her.

Taroko sniffed and lept to the next tree. Sakura sighed but followed the velociraptor. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances and followed.

They stopped for the night next to a small stream. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged their shirts for ones without a bloody imprint of Taroko's snout on them, and Taroko rinsed off her snout and claws.

Taroko fished, Sasuke got a small fire going, Sakura helped collect enough firewood to last the night, and Naruto set up the tents.

**(A/N) Didja like my idea for the first bit of the test? I have been waiting to do that for ages! I made a discord server for reasons and ****pnQAF39 is the code. Hope to see you there! Also, it's Deidara's birthday, so happy birthday to him. **


	12. Chapter 12

**(A/N) Hi!**

They got a move on the next day, heading for the tower.

"How big is this forest?" Naruto wondered, staring at the sky. "They gave us five days, so it can't be more than that to the center."

"I would say no more than two full days of travel to reach the center," Sakura estimated. "Giving teams a full three days extra for collecting the second scroll they need."

"Taroko says it sounds about right to her," Danromi translated. "I think we're going a bit faster than most teams would go, so we may reach the center earlier."

"So no later than tomorrow around noon," Sakura decided. "We did take the detour to track down those Ame nin, and we did stop a bit early near that stream."

"Sounds good," Sasuke said, looking around warily. "Wait, do you hear that?"

Taroko stopped immediately, sniffing the air. 'The wind's behind us, so I don't smell much. We aren't in any other predator's territories, I would've scented their border markings. Although, is that the scent of snakes? Danromi?'

"I got that too," the dragon muttered, sniffing the air as well. "But not a big one. I don't think."

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound too big," Sasuke muttered, tilting his head this way and that. "I don't hear anything."

"I don't hear anything at all," Naruto agreed, frowning. "Something's scared the forest into silence."

Taroko shifted nervously, the wind changing just enough to bring a strong scent of snake toward her. Predator, the scent told her. Run, her brain insisted, but she stayed.

Danromi clearly sensed it as well, tiny pinprick claws digging into her scales. "Guys, who or whatever it is, we don't want to mess with it, come one, we have to go."

Naruto glanced worriedly at them, then nodded. "Alright. Which way?"

Taroko tossed her head to the left. Naruto nudged Sasuke and Sakura, and they leaped into the trees, Naruto following, then Taroko right behind.

"Kukuku, what do we have here?" A smooth voice asked, echoing around them. They stopped once more, looking for the source of the voice.

A strong wind that could have only come from a wind jutsu, blew out of nowhere, sending Danromi flying off of Taroko's back before the dragon could get a good grip. The others managed to use chakra to stick, although it was close.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, gritting his teeth against the wind.

Taroko frowned, sniffing the air again. She recognized traces of that scent, Anko's summons bore a similar one. If the person was using the same summons as Anko, it could only mean one person. 'Orochimaru,' she tapped out.

"Who?" Naruto asked, looking at her weirdly.

Taroko just shook her head. She had to wait until Danromi got back, it was too long to do in morse code while they had an enemy right there.

"Well, it appears someone has done their research," someone who looked like a Kusa nin but smelled like a snake, stepped out of the trees, smiling sinisterly. "Might I ask what you are, creature?"

Taroko barked at him, annoyed.

"This would be easier with Danromi here," Sakura muttered.

Taroko chirped in agreement.

A fireball was fired towards them and they scattered, Taroko quickly disappearing into the undergrowth.

She circled around, getting behind Orochimaru. She didn't have a chance, she knew that, she was smart enough to know when she was far out of her league. None of them had a chance really, they had no way to contact the proctors and bring them here, and they were just genin. Orochimaru was an S-class missing nin. Zabuza had only been A-rank, and Kakashi had nearly died, heck, she likely would have died had Kakashi been any less competent. All of them would have.

Right now, their best bet was figuring out just what Orochimaru wanted, then fleeing. They had no chance if he decided to fight seriously, which it didn't look like he was doing.

Naruto crouched beside her, surprisingly well hidden among the foliage. "He's just playing with us, isn't he."

Taroko bobbed her head. He didn't actually want to kill them, if he did, they would be long dead.

"Figured," Naruto sighed, disappearing into the undergrowth again.

Taroko chirped softly, circling around again. Sasuke and Naruto were attempting to tag team the sannin, Sakura providing some degree of support.

Taroko lunged for the sannin's back, only to be batted aside, slamming into a tree.

She shook her head to clear the sparkles, disappearing into the underbrush for another ambush. Although there was a high possibility it would be unsuccessful…

Oh great. He stopped playing with them.

Taroko lunged out of the underbrush, throwing herself in front of Sasuke just in time to deflect Orochimaru's head, his teeth skittering against her scales.

She growled, baring all of her teeth at the sannin. She would fight, die, even, but he wouldn't do whatever he was trying to do.

He narrowed his eyes at her, lunging again, only to be deflected again by Taroko's scales.

It was clear her scales were plenty strong to deflect his attacks for now, so she nosed Sasuke harshly, shoving him towards the undergrowth.

He got the message, disappearing quickly. Taroko deflected another bite, the bite uncomfortably close to one of the cuts from the Wave mission, places that hadn't quite fully healed, and were currently shown as scar tissue without protective scales. Or rather, with less protective scales. It would be a few more shedding cycles before it fully healed and the scars disappeared.

Orochimaru seemed to pick up on it, if the way his eyes fastened on one of her cuts was any indication. "You aren't the Uchiha, but I suppose you'll do," he purred, Taroko rotating so her other side was facing him. Unfortunately, it was the side where most of her torso was covered in the scar tissue, also from wave. He seemed to pick up on that as well, smirking.

Taroko growled again, baring her teeth threateningly. He didn't seem impressed. "Third time's the charm," he said, lunging once again, clearly aiming for the cut in her side, but she managed to back up just enough to get him to be deflected off of her neck, a place with harder scales than other places on her body, and right into Naruto's arm, Naruto screaming in pain before collapsing.

Taroko lunged, teeth snapping down on Orochimaru's still extended neck. One powerful head and body twist later, and his head had been torn from his body. It dangled from her mouth, and tasted foul. Taroko knew she had gotten lucky with that shot, him gloating slightly about hitting something, and not paying attention to her, who he had clearly viewed only as a simple gnat to brush off.

He wasn't dead apparently, as a new body crawled its way from the neck of the old one, chuckling menacingly. "Good job, you almost killed me there."

Taroko spat out the neck, making a face at the taste still in her mouth. She growled at Orochimaru, bloody teeth and snout not even fazing him. He merely smirked, turning to leave. "Enjoy. Not what I had intended, but it will do."

Taroko growled again, making a fake lunge towards him. He scoffed, then disappeared in a shunshin.

Sasuke and Sakura had emerged to check on Naruto, and Taroko turned to them, keeping an eye on where Orochimaru had disappeared.

'He alright?' She tapped, crouching to sniff at him. He still smelled alive, and didn't smell particularly bad, like people who were poisoned did, something she knew from her time with Anko.

"He's breathing," Sakura replied, shrugging. "Are you uninjured? Can you carry him?"

Taroko nodded, crouching down enough to let them drape Naruto across her back.

"Where is Danromi?" Sasuke asked, looking around impatiently.

'She isn't very big, there is a high chance she hit something wrong and is unconscious,' Taroko tapped quickly. 'We should look for her.'

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Sasuke, you can look for her, I don't think moving Naruto more than needed is good."

Sasuke nodded, disappearing into the foliage.

"We'll have to figure out how to secure him to your back," Sakura spoke absently, surveying Naruto on Taroko's back. "Right now that isn't very secure."

Taroko tossed her head towards a group of vines. She knew that particular species was somewhat sticky and good for tying things to other things with.

Sakura thankfully got it, hurrying over to cut some vines down.

A few minutes later Naruto was securely tied to Taroko's back, and Sasuke was back, holding an unconscious Danromi.

"She was lying at the base of a tree, I think she slammed into it, her wing doesn't look too good."

Sakura hovered over the small dragon, carefully stretching out the limb, wincing at the clearly broken limb. "I don't think I know how to set or splint this. We'll have to wait until we get to the tower to get it looked at."

'Then we'd better hurry,' Taroko tapped, nudging them towards the tower.

Sakura, being the only one unburdened by a injured comrade, led the way.

**(A/N) Right, so I intended to reach the prelims today…. Hehe, that didn't happen clearly… right, so go check out poll, and yeah. **


	13. Chapter 13

**(A/N) Prelims! Finally. **

Luckily they reached the tower the next day, and were able to relax for the final two days. Naruto's bite injury was dealt with, he woke up, Danromi's wing was splinted, although she was under strict orders to not use it at all.

Needless to say, the tiny dinosaur got very tired of having to ask people to pick her up and put her on Taroko's back.

"There are going to be prelims?" Naruto complained quietly to Taroko. "I like, just woke up!"

'And some others haven't had any rest at all,' Taroko tapped. 'Be grateful you got to rest at all.'

Naruto grunted in reply, rubbing at the spot where the bite mark was bandaged.

"Sasuke won't need any help with that guy," Danromi noted as they headed up to the balcony.

"Yeah, no." Naruto agreed. "I almost pity the dude."

'Why,' Taroko asked, scoffing.

"Yeah, why," Danromi echoed, watching the very one-sided match below.

"Nevermind," Naruto said, laughing slightly.

Sasuke was up on the balcony a moment later. "He was easy prey."

Taroko snorted, shaking her whole body in amusement. 'Well of course.' Danromi chirped in amusement, settling down more on Taroko's back.

"Naruto vs Kiba," was read out.

Taroko nudged Sasuke. "Take care of Danromi?"

Sasuke pulled Danromi off of Taroko's back, carefully cradling her to his chest. "Yeah, I got her.

Danromi didn't look too happy, but clearly couldn't do anything about it with her splinted wing.

Taroko eyed Kiba and Akamaru, the latter of which was about a fourth of her size.

"Begin."

Taroko and Akamaru split off to circle each other for a bit while their owners yelled at each other about who was going to win.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, and the dog immediately ran to his owners side, Taroko returning to Naruto's as well, watching the transformation jutsu.

The spinning drills were certainly an adventure, just fast enough to clip Taroko every so often. Naruto got quite a bit more battered, thrown across the arena more than once due to the drills.

A handsign later and a sea of clones hid the arena, being replenished just as fast as Kiba and Akamaru plowed through them.

Taroko crouched among the clones, waiting for one of the drills to come close enough for her to whack out of the air with her tail, the place most likely to survive without too much damage.

One, she hoped it was Kiba, neared her, and she whirled, taking out a couple clones on the way, whacking the drill like a baseball. The Kiba she had hit went flying across the room, smacking into the wall with a whimper, a puff of smoke revealing it was Akamaru.

The other drill paused, then raced for Akamaru at the same time Taroko lunged for the small dog. She scooped up the dog by the scruff of his neck, then disappeared into the sea of clones.

With Akamaru held safely in her mouth, Taroko trotted to where the real Naruto was, assuming a position next to him.

The clones all popped in succession, filling the arena with smoke.

It cleared to reveal a very angry Kiba.

"Hey! Give me back Akamaru!"

"Not unless you forfeit." Naruto shouted back, grinning mischievously.

Kiba growled for a long second, but it only took Taroko closing her mouth just a bit more and digging her teeth into Akamaru's fur just a bit, for him to yield. "I forfeit."

Taroko carefully dropped Akamaru on the ground as they were declared the winner, then trotted up to where Sasuke was waiting with Kakashi and Danromi.

"You guys did well," Kakashi said, nodding to them.

Taroko preened slightly as Danromi was settled back onto her back.

"Did you know which one was Akamaru and which was Kiba?" Sakura asked curiously.

Taroko shrugged best she could. 'I guessed. They had slightly different scents, but I didn't know which was which.'

"We're just lucky that ended the match," Naruto said, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. "I need a nap."

Taroko trilled in agreement, settling around him and letting him use her back as a pillow. She may not be the most comfortable of pillows, but it was probably better than the floor or the wall.

"Do your best Sakura," Kakashi said, patting his final student on the head.

"I won't win," Sakura warned them. "I know that much."

"Then tie. Knock her out when she knocks you out," Danromi suggested. "You won't continue on, but neither will she."

Sakura giggled, tapping the dragon on the nose. "Wonderful idea, Danromi. I'll be sure to implement it best I can."

"Have fun," Danromi agreed, resting her head on one of Taroko's pouches.

Sakura headed down to face her longtime friend turned rival. "Ino."

"Sakura," came the reply.

"I won't hold back," Sakura warned, pulling out a kunai.

"Neither will I," Ino agreed, pulling out one of her own.

"Good."

"Good," Ino agreed.

They lunged, Sakura swiping for a simple cut across Ino's arm, only to spin around and reverse into hitting her other arm when Ino went to block. She hadn't been able to do much except be a medic, but she had trained on her own time. She wouldn't be useless again.

"I'm not the same little girl you rescued from bullies," Sakura said as Ino reeled back, nursing her injured arm. "I'm stronger, I've trained."

"So have I," Ino agreed, launching a few kunai at her. "I have a good teacher."

"I don't," Sakura said, grinning amusedly. "But I trained anyway."

Another exchange and Sakura was nursing a leg wound.

This continued, culminating in a final punch, knocking both girls out.

"She did well," Danromi noted, yawning and showing off all of her little teeth.

"She did indeed," Kakashi agreed.

**(A/N) Now I sleeps. There's a poll, and hey d'ya want a extra arc or something after the Invasion or is ending it there fine. **


	14. Important

**(A/N) While this seems a somewhat surprising decision, I assure you it is anything but unthought out. I am, I'm afraid, under a lot of stress. I'm sorry I took so long to inform you, but I will be taking the month of June off from updating. I will be back in July, back with properly scheduled updates. Again, I am terribly sorry, I know you were probably looking forward to some updates, but I feel like I need to do this. No, there won't be an update tonight. I am sorry, but will see you again in July. This has been posted on all my stories, I apologize for the sudden slew of emails. **


	15. Chapter 14

**(A/N) Since no one has replied, and I have stories I wish to post, there won't be another arc after the invasion. I mean, if someone really wants to, I could do a sort of epilogue or extra Oneshot in the future. Maybe a mission with Danromi and Taroko. **

"Why are they late?" Sakura demanded, scouring the stands for their missing teacher and teammate.

Taroko rumbled. 'I can't smell either one of them.'

"Neither can I," Danromi agreed.

"If he makes Sasuke late," Sakura threatened, hissing under her breath. "I am going to personally help Taroko gut him."

"Wow, did Anko get to you too?" Naruto wondered. "Taroko keeps coming up with… interesting ways to kill stuff."

Taroko trilled in amusement.

"I could probably come up with just as many," Sakura sighed.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing," Danromi asked, ruffling her feathers in amusement.

"Kami if I know," Sakura sighed again. "It's boosted my creativity if nothing else. And my ability to skin someone without killing them."

'That is fun,' Taroko tapped with a soft trill.

"Something like that," Sakura said, shrugging. "So, somewhat confident about your battle, Naruto?"

"I mean, he's a self righteous bastard, but he's nothing against our teamwork!"

Taroko trilled in amusement.

"Fate decreed I win this match," Neji insisted, standing tall.

Taroko reared back, her tail almost touching the ground, to get enough height to top him. She then barked loudly three times. Basically saying 'screw you'.

Neji narrowed his eyes threateningly at her. Taroko was not impressed.

"Well, I say screw fate!" Naruto decided, vibrating with energy. "It can fight me!"

Taroko snorted, shaking her head. You can't fight something that doesn't exist unfortunately.

Neji glared at Naruto now, and the proctor started the match. He immediately assumed a gentle fist position, and lunged.

Naruto dove out of the way, and Taroko lunged to the side as well. Better safe than sorry. She turned around immediately to attempt to deliver a nasty bite, but was dodged. Which she had expected, so she turned the momentum into a ferocious tail swing, hitting him straight in the midsection and throwing him a ways away.

Oh he was angry now, Taroko noted, racing for the grove of trees on the far side of the arena. She didn't know what gentle fist would do to her, and she didn't particularly want to know. It likely wasn't any fun.

Neji went after Naruto instead, which was a good move, as taking Naruto out would likely take her out as well, since technically she was registered as a ninja animal belonging to Naruto.

While they were talking, Taroko circled around, waiting for an opening to bite the Hyuuga. It wouldn't be too hard, and probably wouldn't bleed as much as a killing blow, but it'd hurt. A lot.

There.

Taroko lunged for the opening, closing her jaws around his leg, leaving deep, bleeding, teeth imprints in his skin.

Neji disengaged, limping severely. "This is not over."

"I didn't think so," Naruto agreed, lunging for Neji again.

Taroko trilled, lunging as well.

A spinning ball of chakra repelled them both, the chakra sparking painfully against Taroko's scales.

Taroko flicked her tail in annoyance, pacing just outside of where the spinning ball had been. It hurt, she'd have to stay out of range at least until she figured out its weakness. Besides the fact it had to use a large amount of chakra.

Naruto passed her, and quietly whispered so Neji couldn't hear. "Let's drain him of chakra. Weapons and false lunges."

Taroko chirped under her breath in acknowledgment.

False lunges were mostly in her case, able to turn on a dime and get out of range of the spinning ball of chakra.

Taroko could tell people were getting somewhat tired of the endless darting in and out she was doing, as well as the occasional weapon from Naruto, who was perched in a tree.

Luckily Neji was swaying already, the steady blood loss from the bite and the chakra usage of the spinny ball taking its toll.

Taroko lunged in one more time, the spinning ball never coming, so she landed right on top of Neji, jaws open and held threateningly around his throat.

"Forfeit," Naruto said, coming to stand over Neji's head. "Or you die."

Neji glared very heavily at both of them, but conceded. "I forfeit."

**(A/N) The paragraph after this isn't necessary to read, just notes on stories ending. For those who don't read it, there is still a poll up, although it's getting turned off sometime after this is posted. It'll determine what new stories are added. Also, Happy Birthday to Kiba, Akamaru, and Present Mic(MHA)**

**For those curious, and continued reading, this is the approximate order for stories ending. NDSA, this one, will be ending in a few chapters, Lilo n Stitch in probably about 4, maybe less, maybe more, depends on who is chatty, who cooperates, and whether things go according to plan, then likely SS sometime after that, depending on how long the chuunin exams want to stretch themselves out. SHT7 and WBBU are likely to end after that, although as both are only now entering Wave, it'll be a while. While UMN isn't technically going to end, as my co-writer is in another fandom right now, it'll be a while before it's worked on again. I have four more updates, and then I'm out of predone ones. She has determined that it's best if UMN's spot be open to a new story, so that's what's going to happen there when it goes onto Hiatus.**


	16. Chapter 15

**(A/N) Hello! I'm warning you now, this is the invasion chapter. That means blood. Stop reading after the feather genjutsu bit if you're squeamish at all…**

"Wait for it, he'll forfeit in the next two minutes," Danromi commented, lounging on Taroko's back.

"I bet one," Taroko chirped at her.

"Last piece of jerky?" Danromi trilled right back.

"You're on," Taroko replied.

Two minutes later, Shikamaru forfeited, and Danromi got the last piece of jerky.

"Were you betting on when Shikamaru would forfeit?" Sakura guessed.

"Yep," Danromi said, gnawing on her jerky. "I won."

"Good for you," Sakura said absently.

Shikamaru slouched up the steps. "Be wary of that Gaara kid, he just killed two chuunin when they bothered him."

"Don't worry, we'll be wary," Danromi assured him. "He smells like blood, old blood. And tanuki."

"He holds the one tailed tanuki," Naruto muttered. "It's why he smells like that."

"Makes sense," Danromi agreed. "Likes killing I assume? Like the display with Lee?" Taroko shuddered at the mention of it. It had been a bloody mess. And this was coming from the dinosaur that made bloody messes any time she ate.

"Do you think Sasuke can stand up to him?" Danromi wondered to Taroko.

"Maybe," Taroko barked. "Depends on what Kakashi's been teaching him. I can think of a couple of ways to circumvent the sand shield, but again, depends on what he knows. Water could do well, maybe lightning to nullify the earth chakra in the sand, which I'm not sure if that would work, but maybe."

"Water to slow it down so he can get hits in?" Danromi guessed. "That would probably be the safer option."

"Somehow, I don't think Kakashi took the time to teach him water jutsu though…" Taroko mused. "It isn't one of his affinities, so it would have been more difficult to learn them."

Danromi eyed Sasuke, who was perched on the wall. "Those aren't signs for a water jutsu, so it looks like you're right Taroko."

"Lightning?" Taroko asked, staring as lightning collected in Sasuke's hand. "What on..."

"What on earth did Kakashi-sensei teach Sasuke?" Naruto asked, leaning over the railing. "What is that?"

"What kind of jutsu…" Danromi trailed off as Sasuke leaped forward, racing for Gaara. "What is he trying to do?"

'Stab Gaara?' Taroko suggested, tapping it out so the humans could understand.

"Would you look at that," Sakura muttered. "He is stabbing Gaara. This seems like a bad idea."

"You don't say," Shikamaru muttered mutinously from his spot curled up on the floor, napping.

The scream rang out around the arena, and Taroko knew this was not going to end well. There was no way that an unstable jinchuuriki screaming would end well.

Feathers started floating down, and Taroko noticed people getting drowsy. A quick pulse of her chakra later, and any fogginess was cleared from her mind. A genjutsu. She gently bit down on Danromi's wing, then on Naruto's shoulder. It didn't break the skin, just poked them slightly. Enough to break the genjutsu. It was a pretty weak genjutsu.

Sakura had shaken off the genjutsu herself, and Taroko was smart enough to know Shikamaru was only pretending to be under the genjutsu's effects. She kicked him, but otherwise didn't bother trying to wake him up.

"Naruto, Sakura, wake up Shikamaru and chase after Sasuke," Kakashi said quickly, landing near them. Gai knocked out a section of wall, then leaped away again.

Kakashi summoned a small dog. "This is Pakkun, take him, he's your team leader, and will lead you to Sasuke. Taroko, you're with me. Danromi, I don't really care."

Danromi flapped over to Naruto. "I'll follow them. Help Pakkun track Sasuke."

"Great, have fun. Taroko come on. Kill the sand nin, leave everyone else. Try and avoid getting blood on the civilians, don't want to traumatize them too badly."

**(A/N) An extra warning. Don't read until the next authors note if you are squeamish or don't handle blood well. Final warning. It's pretty bad.**

Taroko nodded amicably, racing into the fray.

She tackled one off of Gai, who'd clearly been fine, but she got the person off of him anyway, tearing into his stomach with her teeth. He died quickly with half his organs missing.

The nin were all over the stands, so Taroko had little difficulty locating another one to tear into. She would seriously need a bath after this, her face was covered in blood.

She went at the next with her feet, clawing him viciously across the chest, snapping ribs and crushing organs.

The next put up more of a fight, having recovered from the shock of seeing her. She dodged a kunai, got in close, and bit his arm off, tossing it away and lunging backward before he got a slice in across her chest. He was bleeding heavily and off-balance from the abrupt loss of his arm.

She backed up and waited until he was just off-balance enough, then lunged. She went for the throat, hitting her mark, as her teeth tore through muscle skin and bone, severing his head from his neck.

Four surrounded her, as their comrade fell to the ground, blood spreading in a pool around him.

She growled menacingly, but they didn't seem phased. So she lunged, dodging the kunai of one to tackle another to the ground. She had to dodge a tanto and didn't get to kill him, however. A long slice appeared on her side from a wind jutsu, and she staggered to the side, before lunging for the wind user with the fans in his hands.

Kunai flew at her, and she barely managed to bite off one of the wind user's hands before she had to duck away to spit it over the edge and avoid the kunai. A hard swing from her tail, and one tumbled over the edge. Two down for a little while, although both would get back up.

The one with the more kunai had to go next, so she dodged under another hail of the things, smacking the second person in the ribs with her tail, and biting into the kunai user's torso with her teeth. She lunged backward with her teeth still closed, tearing out a massive chunk of the person's torso. They quickly toppled over dead. She twisted out of the way of an attack from the wind user, lunging for them next. They wouldn't survive this attack. Taroko would make sure of it.

The person from before, that she had knocked off of the railing, was about to tackle her, but Gai kicked him out of the air, nodding to her, before running off. Taroko tore into the wind user a second later, almost biting their torso in half.

For the final person, she lashed out with a kick, slicing through skin and bone in their chest. They were quickly dead, and Taroko raced off for another challenge.

She went back to back with Gai when two puppet users and their four puppets surrounded the two.

Taroko growled a challenge, then lunged. She couldn't afford to be caught by the poison-tipped weapons, so she dodged everything she could. One puppet went down when she managed to leap straight onto it, crushing it beneath her feet, and she lunged for the puppeteer while Gai distracted and destroyed the other puppet.

The puppeteer was almost entirely dependant on his puppets, and went down quickly, Taroko's jaws crushing his skull.

A hawks screech had her glancing at Gai quizzically.

"The jounin have been given permission to use their full arsenals against the invaders," Gai explained quickly, killing the other puppeteer with brutal efficiency. "The ANBU have also been dispatched. The invasion will be taken care of quickly."

Taroko nodded her understanding, lunging for a sound nin and tearing out his throat.

**(A/N) You should be fine now. All of it's over with. Now just a bit of aftermath. **

True to Gai's word, the invasion was over quickly. The stadium cleared of enemy shinobi, the barrier around the roof of the kage fell, and the shinobi had been driven from the village itself.

They'd had casualties, but they weren't as high as it could have been. They did lose their Hokage, but it could have been worse in Taroko's opinion. Naruto and his team were unharmed, the other rookie nine that had been at the stadium were also unharmed, and their sensei were all intact. It was all good for now. Now they had to rebuild, and that would take a while, as the damage had been extensive. But it was Konoha. They would rebuild, better than before.

**(A/N) A slightly happier end for the fact that like half this chapter was heavy gore. I can't find it in myself to be sorry, so… *shrugs* **

**Anyway, this is the conclusion of the invasion, and thus the conclusion of NDSA. There'll be a poll up soon after posting this, so go check that out! Don't be surprised if I end up like, posting one shots that are in this universe whenever I feel like writing something particularly gorey, so, uh, yeah… Don't read if you are squeamish. Although if you are, I'm not entirely sure how you got to the end of the book… Anyway! Have a nice existence, sorry for rambling, and maybe I'll see you on a different fic or a oneshot! **


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